Date: 2017-06-04
From: Wilson Creek Shelter 

To: VA 43 Bearwallow Gap
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Day Eighty Five (4 Jun)Today we got up bright and early and packed up our stuff; while packing the tent we saw a deer, so beautiful. We hit the trail at 06:30, with the intent of hiking a 13 miler. The weather was nice and cool, but humid. We hiked to Bobblets Gap Shelter, supposedly only 7.5 miles away, but with about three PUDs (Pointless Ups & Downs), it felt like forever.  :-|. While hiking we kept crossing back and forth over the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP), and at one point, we saw a doe and her fawn. They shot off down the bank and crossed the BRP; we were so afraid that they were going to get hit because there was a guard rail on the other side. Momma jumped over it and bambi found a place to go around it; whew!!  The trail started out very steep and covered in small gravel, when the trail would level out for a stretch it was slanted away from the mountain so caution was required to keep from slipping. No boulders to climb the trail actually passed them by yippee! Eventually the trail was of a very nice tread where rocks in places had been removed you could see them off the side of the trail thank you trail maintainers!Finally, we made it to Bobblets Gap Shelter, which had water, and we had to decide if it was worth the .3 miles to go down and get it or risk going further where the water source was skeptical.  We decided to get out our chairs and break for lunch and talk about it. I finally left my pack there and hoofed it down for the water.  When I got back Bushy and I talked about whether or not to continue hiking the trail.  We decided that now that we have enjoyed the trifecta (Dragons Tooth, McAfee's Knob, and Tinker Cliffs) there really wasn't any more icons of the trail to look forward to, that now, all we are doing is hiking for the miles; that maybe the fun is over and now it is time to start a new adventure...motorhome.  We both agreed and texted our son; he said that he would come and get us and take us back to his place in NY to visit. So, we planned on getting to Middle Creek Campground and stay until he could come get us. We got off the trail at VA 43 Bearwallow Gap and because there was little or no signal there, we got out our "Hiker to Town" banner and started hitching. A very nice gentleman in a jeep stopped and asked where we were heading and we told him Middle Creek Campground, he said he would take us there; how cool was that!!  The photo is of Sparks relieved about getting off the trail.While here we ran into Bambi, Ziplock, and Hot Sauce. We get checked in at the campground and go to our cabin and find that it is nothing but a private bunk house, no water or bathroom; the bathroom/showers were way back by the main building.  So, I called Homer Witcher (Shuttle Service) and he said he could come right now and bring us back to Troutville! We jumped on it. I cancelled the cabin, and since all we did was set our packs in the cabin, they didn't charge us for the day; whew! Homer came and got us and dropped us at the Super 8.  We are now officially off the trail and are waiting for our son to pick us up.We are sorry to let everyone down that was following us on our journey, but we are okay with stopping at 749.7 miles, and are now considered LASHes (Long Ass Section Hikers) and are ready to get our motorhome and start traveling around the US, with sections of the trail still in our future. :-)