Date: 2019-05-23
From: Stealth campsite by river

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: few clouds

May 23 (Day 61): After a wonderful night falling asleep to the sounds of the river, we hiked out and began our climb up.We hadn't gone far when a large RV stopped as we crossed the road and asked if we would like any snacks or drinks. Her name was Elizabeth from New Jersey. Her husband, trail name Gump, was running the trail and had started in Amicolola on May 6th. She was his support vehicle and would drive along stashing PB&J sandwiches and stuff at junctions for him. Elizabeth gave us gummies and trail mix and pistachios. Ambassador and I mixed the trail mix and nuts and split them. David asked if she had any orange juice. He was so excited when she handed him a big cold cup of it. He hadn't had any OJ since leaving home. Elizabeth told us that she and her husband had sold their home and bought the RV and were driving around the country in it. She was so nice and we talked to her for a bit. While standing there talking and eating, 2 women came SOBO down the trail slack-packing. We recognized Kokopelli from the other night when we were stealth camping. She asked if a bear had gotten our food bag. We told her no but I said that I had heard the bears crashing around during the night. She said one had torn the bottom off her bag and eaten her food. Her friend was camping elsewhere but a bear had torn her Earth Sack apart too. They were slack-packing while waiting for their new food containers to come in from Amazon. They had ordered bear canisters instead of bags.We took pictures of all of us and our trail angel, Elizabeth, and said our goodbyes.A short way up the trail we met a Forest Service ranger coming back from Thomas Knob Shelter. She warned us about the bears and to please make sure we hang our bear bag every night and hang it properly. Also make sure that we put anything with a scent into the bag. She said that a father and daughter only had toilet paper and clothes in the vestibule of their tent yet the bear tore the vestibule apart anyway.The rest of the morning was a brutal climb up towards Mount Rogers, the highest peak in VA. We climbed from 2688 ft to 5100 ft. The summit with the views is Buzzard Rock, but you can take a half-mile trail to the actual summit of Mount Rogers but there is only trees. No views. Not going to waste our precious energy when you can't see anything. Besides, Buzzard Rock's views were incredible!There was a large rock outcropping that I climbed up to explore. I found a backpack with its rain cover off and the cook pans and water filter out. It seemed strange but I thought that maybe the owner was exploring and would return.We sat and ate lunch (tuna on flour tortillas... again) and then we laid back on our packs and snoozed in the beautiful weather.A short time later Unicorn and NAB (Not A Botanist) showed up. We chatted a bit and then I mentioned the backpack in the rocks. We checked the pack for ID but found nothing. NAB called 911 and reported what we found. He and Unicorn stayed to talk to the Forest Service folks. We had nothing to add so we left.We stealth camped at Deep Gap, after another exhausting but exciting day.