Date: 2018-08-30
From: Campbell Shelter

To: Catawba, VA
Miles today: 10.3

So today was the iconic visit to McAfee Knob! McAfee is one of the top 5 most popular/iconic photo stops for every thruhiker on the AT. It¢s basically this overhanging cliff-rock that you can walk out on and get your picture taken overlooking the whole valley and mountain range. It¢s a pretty sweet spot. In order to get my candid photo though, I had to make sure I wasn¢t the only one up there. So last night, I made plans to leave with Buster and Disco this morning, so that we¢d all be up there at the same time. They get up really early though. So I had set an alarm for 6am, but I slept right through it and didn¢t wake up until 6:45. And they wanted to be hiking by 7am at the latest. So I was scrambling around and throwing my shit together super fast. In 20mins I was set. Never done that before. LolGlad it was a clear day. The views were great at the Knob and I got lots of good photos. Disco is kinda scared of heights, so he was reluctant to pose standing on the edge of the cliff. So instead he sat down and crawled to the edge. After the photo he was like ¢No way, that was too much. I gotta go calm down. I¢m gonna go smoke a bowl.¢ And then he disappeared into the woods. LolEnded up hiking the whole day with them. Buster led us and Disco backed up the rear. And I was in the middle. Apparently I hike fast because by the end of the day Buster was complaining that I had been ¢pushing¢ him and Disco was upset by my ¢lack of effort¢. Said I looked like I was barely out of breath all day. Haha! It feels nice to finally be the ¢fast¢ one in the group. I should hike with old people more often. Today was a short day because we decided to veer half a mile off trail to a donation-based hostel in Catawba, VA called Four Pines Hostel. After resupplying at a gas station down the road, we reached the hostel by 1pm. So I had the entire afternoon to just chill. Four Pines is an interesting place though. I mean you can¢t expect much since there¢s really no charge to stay there. But still... The ¢hostel¢ is a 3-bay garage that¢s been outfitted with wooden bunks, a bathroom, and fridge. You can take a shower, but no towels are provided. So you gotta put your dry clothes on your wet body. You can do laundry, but there¢s only a washer. No dryer. Needless to say, I didn¢t do either. The idea of getting myself and all my clothes WET did not sound appealing. The place is also crawling with cats, which was a disappointing surprise since I¢m allergic. Ugh. Overall though, it was a nice place to hang out for the evening, especially since it started storming later. Oh, and they have WiFi. Right as we were getting ready for bed, a guy with a pack comes walking through the door soaking wet. After dropping off his gear and asking for our names, he introduces himself as Fresh Grounds... Fresh grounds?! I looked up at Buster and Disco and they were absolutely clueless. This was THE Fresh Grounds. A guy that essentially lives on the AT during hiking season and follows the front of the NoBo bubble from Georgia all the way to Maine with his car. He stops at road crossing and different places everyday, sets up a big tarp tent, and cooks HUGE glorious meals for thruhikers passing by. The whole operation is based off of donations - by hikers, for hikers! He¢s a trail legend basically. And his name is Fresh Grounds because he serves hikers fresh ground coffee every morning with breakfast. I had never seen him on trail, but always heard about him. I was always about a week ahead of the bubble that he was following, so we never crossed paths. SO crazy to finally meet the dude though, and in Virginia of all places.