September 28th, 2018, West Virginia and Virginia
It was a cool morning and the sky was already clearing before day break. I finished the various foods I had in the refrigerator: salad with broccoli and chicken, raspberry yogurt, and strawberries. Not a traditional breakfast but I ate it nonetheless, figuring it was better for me than my other option, waffles and syrup.
After finishing packing I set off back toward the trail. I stopped by the post office to mail a postcard and continued back toward the trail. As I reached the trail a few minutes later there were two hikers just turning onto the same section. It was Griffin whom I hadn’t seen in a week or so, and one of his previous hiking buddies, Roadie. I hadn’t met Roadie before and she said she lives nearby. They were both slackpacking and going back to her parents house again this evening.
We crossed a bridge over the Shenandoah River then returned to the woods and started uphill.
After about an hour there was a sign marking the border between West Virginia and Virginia.
Late in the day there was a great view and a big section of exposed, warm rocks. Griffin and Roadie were already there. They were waiting on Roadie’s father who was going to pick them up this afternoon. He and their dog would hike up, meet them, and all hike back to the car. I waited with them, enjoying the view and talking. It was a perfect afternoon and none of us wanted to leave the spot.
Time came and I continued on. Before long I met a hiker named Cheeks. He had started NOBO and met a girl from England who would become his serious girlfriend. She got injured on the trail so they had to stop hiking. She returned home to England and he had about a month before he joined her there. So he was spending it hiking some more on the AT. He wouldn’t be able to finish his thru hike in that time but wanted to get as far as he could. He said the two of them plan to attempt a thru hike of the PCT next spring. He reached his stopping point for the day so I wished him well and we parted ways.
I reached my stopping point around 5:30pm with enough daylight left to set up, get water at the brook, make dinner, and clean up. It was starting to get dark as I settled into the hammock. The days are getting noticeably shorter now…