Day 7 -McAfee Knob- Prof

After staying up until midnight (the actual one not the hiker midnight) we woke up to a fresh pot of coffee and I had my first caffeine in a week! Absolutely amazing!  I ate the leftover pizza from yesterday at breakfast and hung out with the other hikers, some a buzz with talk of how to hitch to Trail Days. 

Last night will for sure be one of the best nights of this trip swapping stories with people from such a varied background was extremely interesting, and we were all brought together by the trail. A group of seven of us guys went out to eat last night and we demolished the meal easily eating triple servings of everything between us. Hiker hunger was in full swing! We then stopped at the store on the way back for a last minute resupply and came across another group of hikers. It's a cool experience seeing how quick hikers connect with each other out here, it's like we have all been friends for years. I couldn't help but notice how rag tag we looked though with some of us in our "town clothes" and others still in hiking gear. Hiker trash at its finest! 

 

An hour later I was sitting on a half broken bench last night petting one of the trail dogs enjoying the sunset fading over the ridgeline and I realized it was one of those perfect moments of contentment. I looked around at all the happy, relaxed, and finally clean faces and realized how truly blessed I was to have that moment. What an amazing experience this is. Now back to today

We hit the trail after coffee this morning and we're so energized from the 3/4 day of rest that we practically sprinted down the trail covering almost 10 miles by lunch. We saw our first danger noodle (snake, I'm just being a goof it's not hiker lingo) this morning, a copperhead that Doc almost stepped on. It quickly coiled up and was ready to tango with us but we had already jumped back several feet. We hung out for him to finally slither off the trail and to also warn the group behind us so they could make sure they kept their dog close.

Not a few hundered yards after the copperhead we came across a tortoise on the trail, we also found another one in camp tonight. Tortoise that is, I'd rather not have copperheads around camp. We continued on and began our climb up to McAfees knob, the most photographed place on the trail. We had some fun on the way up though. A fast moving thunderstorm came through and electrified us (metaphorically speaking of course). What do two idiot hikers do when they get hit by a thunderstorm? They hurry even faster up the mountain! Yea we aren't the brightest, but in our defense we were just trying to make it the last mile to the shelter. 

When we got there we met a member of the Roanoke ATC that was also taking shelter from the storm. The ATC groups are volunteers that help maintain the trail, promote hiking, and help hikers along the way. We really appreciate everything these groups do. Without them we wouldn't have the trail. Anyway, this guy told us he saw a bear this morning. Of course we just barely (be happy I didn't make the pun again) missed one again. 

Eventually the rain cleared and we made it to the knob. It was amazing, I thought the view from Dragons Tooth was great but this was so much better. You could see the mountains for miles and miles. I would encourage any one to go up and check it out. From the parking lot it's only a short day hike and maybe st of the trail isn't too challenging. Plus when you get there you get to take the super cliche photo that everyone does because it's so amazing. I was lucky enough to also get the tail of the storm clouds in mine as well to make it a little unique. Plus I'm in it so of course it's great 💁‍♂️. 

 

We ate lunch on the cliff as everyone who hid from the rain started to trickle up. There was another big batch of storms headed right for us so we hopped back on the trail to make it to the next mile. We got to camp set up our tarps and hammocks and tried to be ready for the storm. Then the sun came out... we checked the radar and the portion of the storm that was supposed to hit us had dissipated completely with the strongest portion missing us by a few miles. So we lounged around after busting out a quick 11 miles in the morning. 

Eventually a few others hikers trickled in, like Slap Shot who we had met the night before when we resupplied, and the father and sun that stayed at the hostel with us and are doing the Virginia Triple Crown. There was one tent that was set up before we had got there that belonged to a guy our age who goes to school at VT. Nick is a cool dude and I think Doc has a hiking partner for when he moves down here in July. 

I mentioned the Virginia triple crown. It is a section of trail that includes Dragon Tooth, McAfee Knob, and Tinker cliffs. We will see Tinker Cliffs tomorrow mid morning sometime. Well it's time for me to get some rest. Take care everyone and thank you for following along. Make sure you ask if you have questions about anything. 

Happy Hiking,

-Prof