Date: 2014-11-14
From: Marion, VA

To: Damascus
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

Karyssa and I shared what she called a "near life experience" (see "Fight Club") above 5,000' on Mt Rogers, VA's highest point. We were caught in blizzard-like conditions with Marathon Man and it was all the argument I needed to get off the trail for the winter. I shall return, as the general said, when I re-gear and when the elevations of NC and TN are more inviting. I hated to leave the trail and my SOBO bubble at the bottom of VA, and at the bottom of the highest hills of the trail, but am home in Florida for an extended vacation.Let me back up and relate how I got from Pearisburg to here.I spent the 23rd and 24th of October with Frankie and Michelle, who kindly let cross over Dragon's Tooth before dropping me off in pretty Pearisburg. Michelle gave me Peter Mathiesson's classic "The Snow Leopard" to read, which I devoured in a matter of days...I wish I was as keen an observer and skilled a diarist as he. 10/25-26 Woods Hole Hostel (m. 1564.4 or 621)An easy 10 miles over Angel's Rest (with nice views of the paper plant below) to Woods Hole. Such a warm and beautiful place that I had to zero here, spending the 1st night in the bunkhouse but the second, with temps in the low 40s, in the main one. I sat with Neville for a Vippassana meditation, and enjoyed some craft beers from Michael, and never wanted to move on. Will never forget this place.10/27 Jenny Knob Shelter (m. 1585.8 or 599.5...that's right, am under 600 to go, yo!)A fairly easy 21 miles along Dismal Creek, though I didn't take the blue blazes .3 down to the falls--with some beautiful rhododendron and sweet water. (I haven't been filtering or treating water at all lately.) Am here with "S," a long section-hiker I met at Woods Hole. We met again near Trent's Grocery, where a local asked if I had heard any sasquatch in the hills, as he has. He told me to keep his data to myself, so I will. I swear he was trying to drum up traffic for hsi town.10/28 Big Walker Motel, Bland (m. 1597.7 or 587.6)Crossing I-77 and roadwalking into town was the highlight of an easy day. Said goodbye to S at the Kangaroo, when her ex picked her up to go home. She was broke and cold, like me.10/29 Chestnut Knob Shelter (m. 1619.6 or 565.7)A rough 21 over the ups and dows on pretty Garden Mn and finally, with my headlamp on, up to the 4,410' 4-walled concrete shelter. Freezing and with wet feet, I broke my glasses on a bad fall, but glad to have lugged a back-up pair since Maine. I caught up briefly with Potato and Chips who I met at 3 Springs Hostel. Really knackered and cold, with no firewood available on this beautiful bald; great sunset and rise, however.10/30 Relax Inn, Atkins, VA. (m. 1654 or 531)The only virtue of this crap motel is that the trail runs right in front of it. I couldn't pass it with temps in the 20s. I rescued a lost bloodhound by dragging him 3 miles to the nearest road-crossing to his grateful owner. He was wandering north on the trail, and had spent a cold night out there. His brother was nowhere to be found. I got some trail magic from "Lumberback" at the Holston River Bridge.The next three nights were spent snowbound in Marion, sharing a room with Kiwi Matt. Potato and Snacks were across the street for a couple of nights, and Marion was cool, and we all took advantage of the 50c shuttle down from Mount Rogers Nat Rec Area Visitors Center. The Moonshine store downtown was a great stop, and the town has some decent restaurants and re-supply options.11/4 Trimpi Shelter (m. 1664.4 or 520.5)10 easy miles with Karyssa, who did great on her first day back on the trail. Tough gear decisions had to be made, and they turned out to be bad ones. An indoor fireplace helped us stay warm.11/5 Old Orchard Shelter (m. 1679)A crappy shelter in the rain, but heart of pine firestarters helped us conserve fuel for what promised to be a cold next few days. 11/6 Thomas Knob Shelter (m. 1690)What a day! It started in the rain, but as we had only 12 miles planned we waited for the clouds to lift. We donned rain-gear again as we climbed Wilburn Ridge, walking amid the pretty ponies in Grayson Highlands. We would have been wise to stop at Wise Shelter, where I ate some old trail-magic, as the rain turned to hail as we crossed Massie Gap. The final 3 miles up and around Mt Rogers were ferocious, as the temps had dropped from the 50s to the 20s and the visibility dropped to about 50' in the clouds. We both heard wee voices in the back of our minds telling us that we would lose the trail, let alone walk past the shelter, amidst the many side-trails around the mountain, and I was worried about Karyssa's feet and hands...she was walking in sneakers as the hail started accumulating on the rocks underneath our feet. I kept telling myself that when we find the shelter, we can warm up, and that I had yet to walk past a shelter on the AT, but this was a unique set of circumstances. The trail was ill-defined, the clouds darkening, and the hail brutal. Finally, we came upon the shelter, exposed on the ridge as it is, our hands so cold that unpacking was a chore. My alcohol would barely vaporize in the cold...a new phenomena. Minutes later, Marathon Man, a SOBO who started 7/7, showed up in shorts and without gloves, and I helped him get his pack off and shared our water with him. We drank hot soup and ate cold food and curled up in the corner, wearing all of our dry layers. I slept poorly and woke at 3:30 a.m. to snowflakes drifting down on my face. One glance outside made my mind reel: 6" of snow had fallen, covering the white blazes on the rocks. How could we locate the trail over Whitetop Mn and the 9 miles of ridge we still had to traverse? Should we back up to Scales and hope to find a ride? Could I trust my memory of the "escape routes" (VA 600 and 58) some 7 miles ahead? Did we have enough fuel to shelter in place until the clouds cleared? Marathon Man got through to the MRNRA rangers and they advised us that the snow would stop by mid-day, so we waited. Then, amazingly, Kyle, a day-hiker from Charlottesville strides down the trail and offers us a ride, his car parked a mere 3 miles down the Mt Rogers Trail. We quickly forced our frozen shoes on and put our faith in his knowledge of the area. (The picture is of him leading us off the ridge.) What an angel...he spared me of making countless decisions about the location and direction of safety. (Having met Syd the prior day, I felt totes incapable of doing so.) Kyle dropped the 3 of us in Damascus, where we bought him coffee (and then beer and burgers at the terrific Old Mill Tavern), and we three all stayed in Hiker's Inn. (Paul there is da bom dot com, as Matt would say.) Karyssa and I re-supplied, bought her hiking boots, and then took a shuttle back to Whitetop Gap and, after building a snowman on Whitetop, and taking lots of pictures at Buzzard Rocks, we stopped at Saunders Shelter (m. 1708.5) with Monoloke and Runaway, Redwood, and a few other SOBOs. It was as if my bubble arranged for a send-off, even if Rhody and K2 were still a day behind. Coyotes answered my bugle call, oddly enough. The next day we walked the Virginia Creeper Trail (mostly) back into town, staying at Crazy Larry's Hostel. Greyhound carted us home to Pensacola from Bristol, TN, where my Molly met us at the station, jumping up and down. It's sad and strange to be off the trail, and I wish I was there, but it's also great to be amongst family and friends. I need more time to reflect on this ambivalence, but am planning on a new Damascene experience in April or May, when I will continue southbound. Overall, the trail and weather has been very kind to me, but am bitterly disappointed in how it ended. I definitely could have continued with the clothing and gear Karyssa brought me, excepting a replacement sleeping system, but the forecasts were dreadful, and many more nights in hotel rooms and hostels would have been inevitable. I was fairly broke, financially and mentally, and really needed a break. I will be back to finish the remaining 467 miles at some point around Traildays in Damascus: May 15th. I will probably park at Springer and arrange for a shuttle up there. All the best for now.