A Whippoorwill decided to sing the song its people in the middle of the night. I heard but it didn’t keep me awake. Sadly I cannot say the same for Oakland. It rained on and off throughout the night but after the initial downpour and splashing, we stayed dry save the dampness of the air. I turned to Oakland around 6 and we conferred about how our nights went. She headed off to the rhododendrons with her TP and trowel. I lay there willing my eyes to stay open for a few minutes. Then I pulled on my ankle brace and gathered my bathroom supplies to make my own trip to the bushes upon Oakland’s return. In our previous pooping lessons, I told her about leaving a stick upright in the chosen morning location so we don’t try to dig cat holes in the same spot.

On my way back from the rhododendrons, I pulled down our food bags. It was hard on my hands because the bags were on the same line and the wetness of the rope proved a bit tricky with the nubbliness of the stick. I finally managed to get the knot undone and walked back to our tent with my right hand throbbing.

I saw a lightly broken path up to the field behind our tent. I couldn’t resist the morning light, so I carefully dodged the poison oak to check out the view. Walked up to field behind campsite a few yards and saw this misty scene.

After waiting a couple of minutes to watch the evolving light, I went back to the tent to change clothes and help Oakland pack up. The bottom of the tent wasn’t nearly as trashed as I had expected after all the rain. Teatime emerged from her tent and gifted us the bag of s’mores fixings she’d hoped to share the night before.

Oakland and I took our bags and poles down to the fire ring to eat breakfast. We were both grateful for the dry skies while we ate. Blaze let out the cutest excited dog noise when teatime put on his saddle bags, as if to say “hoorayyy hiking!!” If only I felt that way when I put on my pack the day after a resupply.

In our constant fear of poison ivy, we both went through more hand washing and tecnu in order to put our contacts in. Thankfully we managed to have just enough water such that no one had to go back to the spring to collect more for the morning. I went through my foot prep and used the last of the tecnu packet on my hands after handling my gaiters.

The Rain started as soon as we put on our packs. We paused momentarily to get out ziplocks for our phones and made our way into the soggy day. There was a Climb out of camp. Of course. We walked through spacious woods with Little ground cover and Road noise.

We made our way Uphill talking about best parts of yesterday. Little did we know we were actually walking through the territory in which stronghold had been murdered. (We wouldn’t find out that information until a few days later when teatime told us).

After a little while of sweating and trudging uphill we passed the quarter of the way sign. These kinds of milestones always tug at the sadness I still feel about not being able to finish my 2017 hike in its originally intended format.

Not long after the sign, We came across a guy breaking up camp. We Made it to the site of a torn down shelter. We dropped our packs by the shelter steps, which looked like a set of bleachers without the shelter.

Oakland walked off to use the still standing privy right as a clap of thunder sounded two minutes later the skies opened up. I grabbed my bag and put it under a tree for slightly more coverage from the pouring rain. Oakland returned right as I was about to move her bag. I scurried off to also use the privy. As I stood there pulling up my shorts, I contemplated the prospects of hiding out in the Privy because it had a roof. We Decided to just keep walking rather than attempt to wait out the storm. We were Soaked within minutes as we made our way through Thunder and lightning. The flat, soft trail sadly turned into a sloshing mess because of the lack of rocks. We were Passed by the solo hiker but then we passed him again as he stood tucked under a small rhododendron tree on a hill.

The rain eventually tailed off leaving us clammy and wet but not actively soaked for too long. As we made our way up yet another steep hill, we could see misty mountain rops that weren’t quite visible enough for a picture but looked beautiful to our eyes. Oakland stopped to squeeze out her socks. Very sadly her waterproof altras were no match for the downpour and had taken on water. We had a few bites of a probar, looked at pictures from our Catsitters and kept walking.

Once we crested the hill, we had Nice easy footing for awhile. A little while later we stopped for a pee and so I could write a few notes while it was only drizzling. We also saw one of my orange friends, which I believe was Oakland’s first time seeing one in person:

Then came Gentle hills followed by a long descent through rhododendrons some of which were in bloom (today’s top picture). We took another Pee break and then rounded a corner Where Oakland spotted a deer way down the hillside. We Stopped to check the weather with a bit of phone signal. On our way down we ogled the occasional fungi.

Awhile later, we walked past a tent site and I spotted west Texas and ranger smoking on a log with the NOBO from this morning. I Haven’t seen them since hot springs. We Peeled off the trail to say hello but didn’t stick around to take our scheduled break because of their cigarette smoke. Instead we Walked a ways father and came to a campsite where we took a heavy snack break in the event that we got rained out of a lunch stop. Then, per AT rules, we went Up hill for little while after having just eaten. We stopped to Filter water and got passed by west Texas and ranger. Then we decided to listen to HP order of the Phoenix together, which is nerdy but fun to have the same thing playing at the same time.

We went Uphill for a little longer and then down long switchbacks. In the distance, I could see west Texas and ranger on a log with someone’s ground cloth draped over a tree and his shirt off rolling cigarettes looking classy as usual.

We Squelched our way through wide sweeping curves with enough mud to side several inches with each step. I Nearly fell a few times and our pace slowed to a crawl. We were Passed by west Texas and ranger separately. We eventually Came to a small opening with a view of a valley and a bank of clouds hanging over the mountain tops.

We Used our zseats to sit in the mud and ate another hefty hodgepodge of snacks (eg the rest of my Doritos, a dessert, half a bag of cashews and cheezit, and sesame covered cashews). As we snacked, I Saw a dark colored hummingbird land on a twig and sit there for about 4 minutes. Before moving on, We both took a quick pee break basically on trail because the poison ivy was back in full force. There were 3.3 miles To go with some soggy field walking in our near future. Just around the corner from our snack spot we came across a large tree with a crazy cable knit pattern in its trunk:

We eventually Walked through shoulder high weeds filled with poison ivy at our ankles. Then we crossed a small road and Field walked through switchbacks covered in cow patties and waist high scratchy hay.

at the top of the field, we went back into the woods through a cow fence. Shortly after that went Over a slatted wooden ladder that helped us cross a barbed wire fence.

1.6 miles to go, with the occasional drizzle and thunder rumbling nearby. We hoped to reach our hostel before getting pelted by another storm, but we still had too far to go to consider picking up the pace.

We wound through the woods a little longer and came to another slatted wooden ladder that dropped down in front of a wide creek. It looked more precarious than it felt. Here’s Oakland crossing it (picture taken through a ziplock bag because it was too clammy and time consuming to remove it):

Then we went Over bog boards through thick grass. We Heard a crashing sound and saw a flash of brown that turned out to be a large fawn bounding away from us. It must have been bedded in the grass. I had nightmare Visions of it getting spooked again and running into the barbed wire fence to our right. Thankfully when it did get spooked, it ran across the stream and up the opposite bank.

We crossed the creek and went up a narrow trail with a steep drop off to our right. A large blowdown Crossed the trail and we could see a wide curving stream way down the hillside with a cow loitering by its banks.

Then came a walk through a lumpy field as thunder clouds looked overhead. I felt Grateful to not have to think about poison ivy for a few minutes. There were pretty Views to our left and behind us with a carpet of storm clouds hanging overhead.

I Stopped to check mileage and we still had 0.3 miles to go. We Finally went back into the woods for a few minutes before walking parallel to the road and dropping down over a muddy patch to get to the intersection.

We Took a right and thought about walking on the proper side against traffic but there was a bigger shoulder on the right side of the road so we stayed there. Went about 100 yards up the road and came to a collection of small barn red buildings and a giant wooden cross sitting on the lawn. West Texas, ranger and munchies (the NOBO we saw much earlier in the day) sat on a deck with an older woman who turned out to be Bert, the hostel owner I’ve spoken to about 5 times.

They had all finished eating snacks and smoking. Bert got a phone call right as we were going to ask her to show us the lower bunkhouse. It Started to rain so we waited inside the main bunkhouse for her. She showed us to the smaller, separate bunk house which was dark but totally good for the two of us and we wanted the personal space. We Dropped our packs in the bunk room and went back up to the main building to get some food. West text and ranger ended up leaving eventually. It poured about an hour after they left. We Ate frozen breakfast sandwiches for a late lunch. Then we Showered in the bathhouse which has a gravity fed water system which meant a trickle of water pressure but there was an abundance of hot water. We picked out some stellar loaner clothing options (flannel pajama pants!) and Put on laundry. Then we went back to our bunkhouse and Pulled gear out to dry with box fan at our disposal. At some point in the late afternoon, a UPS truck arrived with a long box. My Poles arrived! Bert eventually brought our food boxes down. There were three of them because we ordered 5 days of food and HQ couldn’t stuff everything into two boxes.

Then came a long period of being Social media zombies before We had Camp Dinners in the main bunkhouse. We decided to Share our Nutella, s’mores and graham crackers with munchies who was the only occupants of the main building. Oakland kindly washed our dishes at the spigot outside because there isn’t any running water in either of the bunkhouses. Guess what that means? The only bathroom is a privy!

I did not realize that fact when I made a plan to take a zero day here. Oh well. It’s better than having to dig a hold. After dinner, we retrieved our cleaner clothes and Folded laundry in the bunkhouse.

Then we Got ready for bed, which entailed more privy visits, washing hands at the spigot and brushing our teeth on our little porch. The Sky was a beautiful cotton candy pink on my way back down to the bunkhouse.

We texted a bit with our families and turned the Lights out at hiker midnight. I’m finishing this to the hum of the box fan and the squeak of Oakland shifting in her bunk.

Mile 547.4 to mile 558.3(10.9)

Checklist total miles: 567.1

Oakland total miles: 87.4

Creature feature: cows! Brown thrashers, red wing blackbirds, the fawn, many red spotted newts! the deer down in the woods.

I slept so soundly that I thought I was in our bed in CA every time I stirred in the middle of the night. We got up for good around 6:45 and proceeded to do the hiker shuffle of stuffing things back in their respective homes. A loud thumping sound occurred while we were filling our water bottles at the common sink and poor Oakland thought it was an earthquake for a split second. You can take the Californian out of California but you can’t take the earthquake instincts away. I assured her it was a clothes washer or dryer and she recalibrated the sound. 

Susan made us raspberry pancakes and scrambled eggs. Apparently they are incorporated as a b&b and they are required to provide us breakfast in some fashion, but we aren’t allowed to use their kitchen. If they were legally a hostel, it would be the opposite: Kitchen access but they’re not allowed to cook for us. We had our bags 99% packed by 7:25 and were eating gigantic pancakes, eggs and turkey bacon by 7:40. James Asked us when we wanted to leave by yelling out the question from his seat in the office. When we requested about 10 more minutes, he jokingly called out, okay 9.5 minutes! 

All four of us (Susan included), piled into the SUV around 8:15. We talked about their experiences in Damascus, Syria during the short drive to Dickey gap. They had intended to retire there after having lived there two different time periods, but the conflict became too dangerous and they decided against it. They dropped us off at the gap where we loaded up on Sunscreen before heading into the woods.

The trail was a Narrow tunnel that took us up a gradual hill for a few minutes. then the woods opened up to blowdowns and a slanted trail, the combination of which gave the impression of walking sideways.

We were Passed by a seasoned looking hiker going south. A little while later, we Crossed a horse path and went on a longer, slightly more obvious uphill with tiny views of the neighboring ridge line. Here’s oakland taking the rare terrain picture (most of her time is spent stopping for mushrooms). 

A Nice strong breeze kept us cooler as we made our way with pancake lungs. Then we went Up a short rocky hill and onto a breezy fern lined and deceptively rocky ridge with dappled sunlight.

I was cranky about the rocks and Feeling clumsy. Thankfully the Trail dropped us down a bit and the rocks eased up every now and then. Then came a More obvious gradual downhill with a hairpin left curve to follow the trail over more Rocks. The path narrowed for a bit and opened up to wide woods with a long sloping forest floor down to our right. The terrain was pretty repetitive, with the trail widening and narrowing as it snaked through the woods feeling as if we were constantly walking back from where we’d just come. The wind picked up every so often and large gusts made loud rushing sounds through the trees. 

We eventually went down a Long gradual downhill that brought out all the aches in my joints. I had a Slight headache and felt tired but happy that we had perfect hiking weather. We Stopped at the trimpi shelter turn off for a snack break on a nice log. 

Then we had Easy walking through the woods to a gate that led us to a cow pasture.

We saw a Calf drinking milk from its mother and giant cow patties everywhere. Oakland Called it the poopalachian trail. The field made for Lumpy walking, but it was thankfully not very long. We went Over wooden steps to cross barbed wire fence and back into the woods down an easy gravel lane.

Then we Crossed an unmarked paved road and went back into the woods for a gradual up and then back down. Oakland discovered one of my favorite ferns that grows in a circular pattern. It was Hard to get a decent picture of them because of the wind, but we passed more later in the day at a more still spot. 

We Came to a small footbridge over a pretty stream and Signed another trail registry where a travel bible sat in a small ziplock.

An older man who we saw a couple Of days ago caught up to us and I made a joke about how there was an emergency bible in there if he needed one. He laughed and said he already had one, and I think he was serious. We Crossed the bridge of sparkly water and I Saw a new white flower.

Then We Crossed a road and went up a small climb that flattened out to a forest full of whirling dark vines creeping up the sides of trees and hanging down onto the forest floor. We Stopped at a small tent site for lunch. The older man eventually passed us with so many things bouncing off of his pack. I wanted to ask him what he had INSIDE the pack given all the things bobbing on the outside but I didn’t want to sound like a jerk. 

We had to spread the honey for our wraps because it’s become completely crystallized. It worked out well enough. We each Ate the last of our baby bel cheeses (a luxury care of my mom in Damascus). Oakland told gnarly stories she heard from our friend who is an ER doc in Oakland. There was a cool breeze as we sat on a comfortable log in partial shade. We made it More than halfway through our day before lunch. 6.7 miles to the shelter!  Per the AT rules, we had a climb after lunch that transitioned into a roller coaster and eventually led us to an annoyingly rocky ridge with a nice breeze.  

Then came a Long slightly steeper climb. We Passed the guy with the cluttered pack. Then came Another stupidly sharp, but short uphill. I cursed its existence, which made Oakland laugh in agreement. Then came a Rollercoaster with a downward trend. 

I managed to get a small signal so We sat in the trail and looked at a poison ivy quiz website so I wouldn’t steer Oakland wrong in identifying the plant. As it Turns out, I HAD been telling Oakland something wasn’t poison ivy that probably is. We Walked for a few more minutes and then sat on a log and had a snack in the strong breeze. We each got a little lost in our phones for a few minutes because for one of the first times, we both had a signal. All the cats seem to be holding up well in the presence of their caretakers. And there were Father’s Day texts to be sent. I also checked in on research to see if she’s made it back on the trail. She plans to hike tomorrow! Fingers crossed her feet will cooperate. 

After the break, We went through a few more rollercoaster hills, during one of which we found a blue dog bowl sitting on the trail. Oakland offered to carry it to the shelter in the event that someone will be there to claim it. then the trail dropped down to a nearly consistent rhododendron tunnel for the last mile and a half, much of which felt uphill (one of the views is today’s top picture). We passed a woman puttering at her tent site. I gave a wave and was planning to walk on by, but Oakland noticed that she had a dog and asked her if she was missing a water bowl. The woman said “yes! I was hoping someone would see it!” We returned the bright blue object to her and continued on our way. I said “isn’t that so satisfying!” to Oakland after we got out of ear shot. We stopped every so often for Oakland to take a mushroom picture. On one of those occasions I flung off my pack and shoved a few bites of cliff bar in my mouth. It was only 4:30 but I was approaching the bottomless hungry feeling. We had just stopped to admire the thick bright green grass covering the hillside to our right when I saw a flash of brown. Out popped a doe and her spotted fawn tromping up the trail. I thought I’d seen tiny deer footprints in the mud but I wasn’t sure until I saw the fawn. Oakland and I watched as they bounded back into the woods. I managed to get a decent video of them wandering away at a reasonably unafraid clip. 

Right around the corner, we came across a pine needle area with a half dozen tent sites and I spotted the wooden shelter through the trees. We made it there about 10 minutes earlier than I’d expected. It’s amazing what a difference terrain makes. We walked past the tenting area and stopped in front of the shelter. Banana (The Dreaded Snorer) sat at the picnic table with a family of four. I said hello and said that we were going to tent when he described the available space in the shelter. I wanted to warn the family about his snoring SO badly but I also didn’t want to make an ass of myself, so I kept my mouth shut. Oakland and I picked up our packs and went back over to the tenting area to scope out a spot. We easily found a nice plot of pine needles that was uncomfortably close to poison ivy, which has been EVERYWHERE since this morning after having dwindled to nothing since southern N.C. 

After we had the tent set up, Oakland wisely took a giant rock and put it over the sprig of poison oak that was closest to my door. Then I sat outside of the tent swatting gnats and writing notes while Oakland blew up her air mattress. When she found out how buggy it was, she decided to stay in the tent while I bumbled through my bed setup. Then we took on the task of bear lines, which becomes much harder with the addition of poison ivy everywhere. We settled on two adjacent limbs in the same tree with just enough clear space from which to throw. I Went first and made over a half dozen misses before getting the line on the intended branch. Sadly it was far too close to the trunk. Oakland had the bright idea of going to fetch water while I re-threw my line. I managed to get it sufficiently far away from the trunk after only a few more attempts. I was worried about tangling Oakland’s line with mine so I went in search of a different tree and came up empty. All the options were either too thin, too many branches, or too close to poison ivy. I went back to my line and tied the excess off on a broken twig to keep it out of the way. Then i uncoiled Oakland’s line, attached the rock bag and flung it towards my target, which was the limb behind my limb. Success! I managed to get Oakland’s line over both of the branches on the first try. Oakland came back with two full platypus bags that she filled at the mount Rogers visitors center water fountains around the corner. I shared my triumph and showed her the setup.

Then we grabbed our dinner gear and made dinner at the benches in front of the shelter. As we waited for our water to boil, I heard a pileated woodpecker nearby. I stopped what I was doing to  searched the trees and I managed to spot it landing on a giant tree trunk way down in the woods. Oakland came over to where I sat and looked into the woods and also managed to find it amongst the sea of green. I had hoped for her to get a closer sighting but I’m sure there will be more opportunities. Banana came over to chat while we fixed our food. He’s an amiable and conversational guy, and we made easy small talk with him while we ate dinner. Snapshot (from the Damascus hostel) arrived around 6:30 after having hiked nearly 20 miles from hurricane mountain shelter. Banana apparently came from their as well but he cut off about three miles by walking on the  road. Snapshot sat down with the look of vacant exhaustion that comes from having hiked a very long distance. 

Banana told snapshot about the sleeping options and I found my moment to mention, with care, that part of why we tented was because of bananas awful snoring. He apparently KNOWS HE DOES IT, Which to me means don’t sleep in the shelter unless it’s awful outside. Snapshot went off to get water and attempt a phone call for pizza from the visitor center phone. This is one of the few shelters to which you can get pizza delivered (well technically it comes to the visitor center parking lot). 

Oakland and I did our dishes and had dessert. She kindly gave me a few m&ms to go with my mini snickers. Then she went behind the shelter to brush her teeth. I decided to check out the logbook from the shelter and got embroiled in a conversation with the family from Illinois. Oakland had already told them about my first hike in 2017 so they had a number of questions for me. I also asked the mom what sections she had hiked. She’s done about 500 miles of the trail so far and knew her stuff when I started mentioning locations in Maine. I feel like she is totally thru hiker material but she’s doing her hike in 100 mile increments because that works for her lifestyle. A respectable choice.  

The conversation lasted a bit longer than I intended. Oakland kept herself busy talking to banana and snapshot. Then we headed back to our tent to finish the evening chores. I brushed my teeth and We each rinsed our salty faces. Then we searched for bear hang sticks and went through the nail biting task of actually hanging the bags. It’s always a bit nerve wracking as to whether the branch we’ve selected is actually strong enough for the hang. Tonight’s choices proved up to the task and we had our bags safely in the air in no time. Then we settled into the tent to change into sleeping clothes. Oakland was horrified by how she smelled but I assured her she was not alone. Then I wrote my notes while Oakland scrolled through her picture for the day and looked through tomorrow’s hike on guthook. The woods were very active as we lay in the tent. I’m finishing this to the sound of a bullfrog, a chorus of different birds, Oakland rustling in search of socks, and crickets. 

Mile 520.1 to mile 534.0 (13.9)

Checklist total miles: 542 

Oakland total miles: 63.1 

Creature feature: the doe and her fawn, the pileated woodpecker, the cows! and the calf, a small tan frog, and mysterious hairy poop that may have been from a coyote or bobcat (it seemed too big for a fox but I could be wrong).