Date: 2013-10-20
From: Saddle Gap

To: Marble Spring Campsite
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

It was cold last night. Temp this morning in my tent was 30 with a stiff west wind blowing through the high saddle where I'm camped. A bright full moon was still up and casting lots of light when I got up a little before 6. Got on the trail about 7:30 and had a brisk climb up to the top of Big Rocky Row where there was a small overlook. The early morning view downstream along the James River valley was great! Clear and cold with a chilly wind racing overhead. A short distance further on I came to Fullers Rocks, an excellent series of views from along the rim of a small cliff line. The views down river to the town of Big Island and across the river to the James River Face Wilderness were excellent in the early morning light! I could see the country the trail would be taking me through this afternoon. It looks like a very wild and remote piece of ground. I sat for a while at the rim of the cliffs enjoying the view and watching a small flock of migrating songbirds foraging in the nearby gnarled oaks. It was a small mixed flock of mostly Ruby-crowned Kinglets with a few chickadees and a lone Solitary Vireo. They chattered about in the wind-stunted trees for quite some time and I got excellent close-up views of many different birds. As I headed down the long grades to Johns Hollow Shelter a familiar face came up the trail. He was a guy I had crossed paths with 2 days ago on my way downhill into Buena Vista. Here he was again hiking up the steep hill from the James River. I enjoyed crossing the long Foot bridge over the James River. What an impressive bridge for the AT! When I crossed the bridge in '07 I got some exciting photos of several guys jumping off the top rail of the bridge into the river. No jumpers today, it's a little chilly for swimming! Although cool by summer standards, it was actually a very warm fall day in the sun. On the long 2,000 foot descent from Big Rocky Row I had left autumn behind on the tops of the ridges and descended down into summer where all the leaves were still a bright green and flowers were still blooming. What a big change in a relatively short distance. At Matt's Creek Shelter I found an empty shelter but a fire still burning, four whole burned brats in the fire pit, and two unopened 12 packs of beer in the shelter. Someone must have had a good time here last night, and just left. From the shelter it was a long and continual climb up a series of ridges back up to meet the Blue Ridge Parkway near the top of the ridges. This is a truly wild piece of country with no real access except by trail and foot. It is also apparently a fairly dry section of trail so I carried a decent amount of water with me so I could make camp wherever a good spot came along. There were a lot of day hikers out on the weekend and I ran into about 15 people in many small groups. I stopped to chat with a father and daughter. the father was wearing a Durango and Silverton Narrow Guage Railroad t-shirt. Turns out they had lived in Chin Le, AZ for several years and visited Durango many times. Funny coincidence! Because of upcoming terrain I called it a day at the Marble Spring campsite. I'd been told the spring would likely be dry but found it strong and clear. A nice spot to stop for the evening. It looks to be another cold and clear night, probably down into the low 30's. The high temp I saw today was 64 but most of the morning it didn't break out of the 40's.