Day 37 - Damascus, VA - Mile 464

Wow, so much to cover!

Trevor crossed into his 4^th state yesterday (Monday) around 5pm.  Bye, bye Tennessee…HELLO VIRGINIA!  Virginia accounts for 550 of the 2180 miles that make up the AT, the longest stretch of any state, so he will be here a while.

When I last spoke to Trevor he and Finn were overnighting at Bob and Judy’s house.  On Tuesday morning Bob drove him back to Erwin, TN where Trevor picked up his SPOT GPS from the post office and hit the trail.  For those of you that are interested, you can now see Trevor’s progress and location by hitting the TREVOR’S PROGRESS AND LOCATION at the top of the page.  Trevor can’t keep the SPOT on all the time due to battery constraints, but when he does have it on it will update every 10 minutes.

Trevor said it was a decent climb out of Erwin and they traveled 16.5 miles on that day to the Cherry Gap shelter.  For the first five miles the trail was flooded due to torrential storms from the previous night.  He said the trail looked like a river and he had no choice but to just walk through the ankle deep water.

Along the way he met two other hikers, Inchworm and Sprocket and enjoyed their company and conversation.  He said conversations can get interesting when you’re hiking.  For example, Inchworm and Sprocket advised that he preheat all his food (including energy bars) to reduce the calories his body loses from having to heat the food during digestion.  I’m sure Trevor’s mind was busy calculating the amount of calories he would use just unpacking and setting up his cooker versus the savings he would really achieve.  Let’s just say Trevor hasn’t decided to heat his energy bars.

As they worked their way into higher elevations of the hike, the flooded trail gave way to about 3 inches of snow.  As fate would have it, the Cherry Gap shelter was full when they arrived so again he and Finn had to pitch their tents in the cold, with soaked feet nonetheless.

On Wednesday morning they began their ascent onto Roan Mountain.  He said it was a good weather day but the hike was hard.  The snow had packed down to ice which made the rocks very slick so he had to hike carefully.  That night he stayed at the Roan High Knob Shelter which Trevor said was very nice by shelter standards.  Apparently this shelter has two stories and is actually completely enclosed versus the typical lean-to style.  He was also delighted that a group of day hikers had left a decent supply of ham sandwiches for the thru hikers to devour…ah, Trail Magic!

On Thursday morning they hiked about 16 miles off the Roan to Elk Park.  The hike was mostly downhill so Trevor said it was pretty easy, plus the weather was nice and warm.  At Elk Park he and Finn met up with Finn’s friend Hunter who planned to hike a few days with them.  They hoped to stay at the Mountain Harbor Hostel in Elk Park that night but it only had 1 bed available.  Trevor called his Trail Angels, Bob and Judy, who again gave them shelter in their home.

On Friday morning Bob drove them back to Elk Park and from there they hiked 17 miles to a camping site near the Moreland Gap Shelter.  Along the way they stopped briefly to admire the Jones Waterfall and also rested briefly at the Mountaineer Shelter in honor of their friend and fellow hiker Mountaineer.

On Saturday Trevor said the day started out as very pleasant.  Much of the hike followed the Doe River near Laurel Falls and there was a section where the trail was a stone sidewalk that followed along a cliff.  As the afternoon rolled on Trevor said he had one final mountain to crest before arriving at Watauga Lake for the evening.  As he crested the mountain he saw dark clouds and terrible lighting in the distance and decided it was time to “haul ass” for the Watauga shelter.  He only made it about halfway down the mountain before the sky opened up and completely drenched him in seconds.  The only saving grace was that it was warm outside and he kind of saw it as a free shower…that was until the hail started.  He said he got pelted with dime sized hail for a while and that it stung pretty badly.  As fate would have it, it stopped raining once he arrived at the shelter!  Finn and Hunter made it there a little after him and since the rain stopped they were able to begin the clothes drying process.

On Sunday morning they hiked out of Watauga Lake and crossed the dam.  He said it was pretty foggy due to the warm air and cold water so he never felt like he had a good view of the lake.  He said overall it was a pretty uneventful day and they camped overnight at a stream about 1 mile before the Shady Valley Shelter.

On Monday they began their hike early and were so excited to find Trail Magic that a Shady Valley church had left next to the trail.  He said their magic included soda, water, honey buns and Little Debbie snacks.  Mmmmmm…..Speaking of soda, Trevor said he misses Coke and gets very excited when he comes upon a Coke machine at a trail parking lot.  There’s nothing quite like that burning fizz.

All said they traveled a total of 19.5 miles on Monday and Trevor said he was impressed by Hunter’s ability to put in that type of mileage so soon.  Around 5pm they hit the Tennessee/Virginia border where they tent camped near a spring.

This morning they only hiked about 2 miles to arrive in Damascus, which is a good thing given the storms and rain that have set in.  Their first order of business was to hit Cowboys Restaurant where they dined on eggs, sausage and pancakes.  What a treat after eating mostly energy bars and dehydrated noodles for days on end!  After breakfast they rented a room at the Montgomery Homestead http://www.montgomeryhomestead.com/index.html , a local bed and breakfast where he and Finn will stay for the night.  Trevor said Hunter is leaving them today but he and Finn will continue their hike tomorrow.

Their next resupply will be Atkins, Virginia in about 70-80 miles (4-5 days) so that is when I expect to talk with Trevor again.  They’re hoping to make it to Blacksburg in about 12 days where they plan to zero with Trevor’s friends.