Hitting My Stride

Sherry picked me up Tuesday evening. She brought the RV instead of the car so we stayed in comfort in a nearby KOA. Much nicer than a hotel - and a lot cheaper, especially with a pet. I'm going back this morning (4/24).

In the five days since she dropped me off at the McAfee Knob trailhead I've done 67 miles. That's a 5-day average if 13.2 miles per day. Including the zero, that's a 6-day average of 11 miles per day. The trail is easier here, but I'm also getting better trail legs. I don't wake up in the morning dreading the thought if hiking all day. At this pace, my end date calculator (a spread sheet I wrote on my phone) says we'll reach Katahdin the first half of August.

I have a couple milestones. I went over 300 miles on this trip, making it one if my longest hikes. And today, two miles will put me over 3000 total miles on long trails.

On this last keg I passed McAfee Knob, the most photographed spot on the AT. I hiked with the Easter weekend crowd, which was still a fraction of the NOBO bubble. I got up one night and the landscape below us was a giant diamond ring from the lights of the Roanoke area. I stayed in one of the nicest shelters I've ever seen and saw the fireflies at night. I also hiked parallel to the Blueridge Parkway. Much is open but sections are still closed because of damage from Helene. Very eerie seeing this road that was completely empty. It was a good week, overall.


A view from up high in Virginia 

The Guillotine 

Bryant Ridge Shelter 

A view from the Blueridge Parkway. One of many.

An empty Blueridge Parkway. 


Spring flowers. Spring comes later in the mountains.

McAfee Knob 

The most photographed spot on the trail.


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