2022 Appalachian Trail Thru-hike

Jun

2022

Day 61

22 miles Leaving our campsite was hard. I had one of the best nights sleep I’ve had in a long time surprisingly. I actually feel slightly rested. The best part of the Shenandoahs is that they have these waysides along the road that sell food and beer and whatnot so you don’t have to carry more than a days food. Keeps our packs as low weight as possible. It’s Usually for the tourists but it’ll do for the hikers as well. Today we come across one around early and it was a welcome sight. About 8 of us hikers sat outside eating half frozen half lava hot sandwiches that were defrosted in their only microwave and tons of other snacks. We stayed there for an hour or so just eating as much as possible. Eating as much crap as I did I realized I had eaten about 2000 calories in Hostess Fruit Pies, a half sandwich, and beers. No wonder I was feeling like so much shit after that. I was slightly uncomfortably full and very lethargic. We hiked a couple more miles feeling like this before we actually stop and sat on a rock next to the trailhead and contemplated why the hell are we doing this again. We needed a pick me up and just like that the trail provides. After a brief nap a white car pulls up and offers us sodas, water, and snacks. Just what we needed. A little pick me up. Turns out the two older gentleman that we’ve been leapfrogging the past couple days Gandalf, and Captain BJ are being slackpacked and trail magiced by Captain’s sister. She’s living vicariously through her brother and is helping him out any way she can. Anyways we convinced her to slackpack us the next 5 miles right before camp. Just gotta roll with it sometimes.

Jun

2022

Day 60

20ish miles Got a shuttle out of the hostel back to Rockfish Gap to officially start the Shenandoah Mountains! Is it similar to the Blue Ridge Mountains that we just went through last week in the sense that the trail follows the scenic byway that runs the tops of this mountain range. As we are pulling in I realized I have sat in this exact empty parking lot before. There’s an abandoned building in it that strikes a memory. I took a break in this exact spot and sat on those steps leading up to the building 2 years ago when I was on my cross country bicycle tour. What are the odds. Also sitting in the parking lot are two past hikers. They’ve done the PCT but live on this side of the country so they are doing a bit of trail magic. We’ve just come from town freshly resupplied and full from breakfast so I turn down the snacks but I did pack two of their beers to enjoy with dinner tonight. We chat for a bit about the PCT and go on our way. The day is spent mostly in the green tunnel but with the occasional outlook to catch a glimpse of the surrounding mountains and valleys. We end the day at Blackrock hut shelter where we find what might have been the best campsite we have found yet. Flat as hell, no rocks, huge, next to water, and far from others. Couldn’t have designed a better spot. It’s the little things out here that make all the difference haha.

Jun

2022

Day 59

Zero Day Today is our get shit done day. We have to get a lot of stuff done today we were suppose to and also we have to meet Hairnet and his wife Cairn for lunch. We set off early for the outfitter so Two Tone can pick up new shoes and I need various odds and ends. Next we hitch over to Walmart so I can grab a new shirt as I wore a hole through my current one. Hairnet and his wife pick us up from there around noon and we set off to the Stable Craft Brewery outside of town. This is the first time I’ve felt like a normal person in a while. The four of us having lunch together and sharing a couple of beers and playing a little bit of cornhole. Idk why I felt like I was in the real world again. Maybe it was because of company, maybe because it was filled with no hikers, or I’m not sure but I sure did enjoy it. After about three hours they drove us back to town and dropped us off at the Kroger so that we could resupply. We get back to the hostel shortly after where we just relax for the next couple hours before we get hungry again. We then hitched to Mings Chinese Buffett for dinner where we ate loads of mediocre food and walked back. By this time we are exhausted. There’s never much Down time on zero days for some reason.

Jun

2022

Day 58

Zero Day After spending the morning packing up and hanging out a bit more with Melanie and her family this morning they drive us to Waynesboro and drops us off at the local greasy spoon called “Weasee’s”. It was exactly what we needed. The portions were great, the coffee hot and strong, and food was tasty. Afterwards we waddled down the street and walked into the local florist to have flowers sent to the church the next day for Melanie’s daughter’s wedding. We get to Stanimals where we start our chores, shower, laundry. Tonight is a guy named Calico’s birthday so we take him out to the local brewery where there is live music and tequila shots. Life is good in the hiker world again.

Jun

2022

Day 57

15 miles Today is going to be a great day. There is a brewery just a short hitch off trail and we aim to be there by lunch time so we can wait out the afternoon storm that’s suppose to come through. We set off as soon as we can and kind of hike in a line all morning. We have Two Tone and I, Hairnet, and Crazy Eyes all walking together and it was a great time. It didn’t take us long to get a hitch into the brewery. Only about 3 minutes on the corner and an older couple that lived nearby scooped us up and dropped us off promptly at the front door of The Devil’s Backbone Brewery. We sat down for lunch and got to work quickly on some beers and food. Afterwords as we are all sitting around chatting and drinking Crazy Eyes excuses himself out as he’s tired and doesn’t feel well. We continue on doing our thing u til it’s time to go and meet him outside. Crazy Eyes and two other hikers are outside the front of this brewery just absolutely tacking their brains out. Literally on all fours just tossing cookies. We came to the conclusion that it wasn’t food poisoning because one guy didn’t even eat and the other two didn’t have the same thing. What they do all have in common is that they have all been frequenting the shelters and that’s where you get norovirus. Crazy Eyes is basically helpless at this point so Two Tone and I arrange a hotel room for him in the nearby city of Waynesboro that we are set to arrive in tomorrow. I order him a Lyft and get some plastic bags for him to throw up in on the way and set him off. The other two guys are staying at the nearby camp spot which seems irresponsible but whatever. I’m definitely not staying there and catching that stuff. Two Tone and I hitch back to the gap to resume our day on the trail. As we arrive their is a van sitting there and we joke about hitching into town as well because of how tough the last few days have been so I jokingly stick my thumb out as these people and they rolled down their window. “Where ya headed?” Before you know it we are in the back of this van with this lady named Melanie and her daughter Allison. They’ve agreed to take us to Waynesboro just for the hell of it. On our way we begin to talk. Turns out Allison is set to be married in two days so the family is hanging out at the nearby lake enjoying each other’s company before the big day. They invite us back to their campground instead and of course we say yes. We hang out with them exchanging stories until close to real midnight as they cook s’mores and fruit pies over the fire.

Jun

2022

Day 56

20ish miles Woke up early about 5:15ish so that we could pack our things and be ready for the sunrise at 5:55 am. Usually I’m against setting alarms on trail and getting up early in general but man was it worth it. We had a spectacular view of the sunrise with awesome coloring and a smoky haze layered over the mountain ridges in the distance. The day continues with long continuous climbs up and down. We are going over what’s called The Three Ridges today. It’s exactly what it sound like. We go up and over three ridges back to back. I did encounter my first rattlesnake today near the top of one of the ridges. I came about 3 feet from stepping on this huge timber rattlesnake. He didn’t even rattle and would absolutely not get out of my way. I stepped back, threw rocks and sticks at him and he just wouldn’t budge. Finally Crazy Eyes came up and extended his trekking pole to the farthest that it would reach and physically pushed him off trail. Only then did it rattle at us. It had to be almost 3 feet long and about as think as a baseball bat. He had 12 notches on his rattle too. Anyways the day dragged on and on going up and down these climbs. It felt like hours each way. Today was one of those days where the trail was kind of disheartening. I really didn’t feel like hiking and at one point just sat on a log before the final climb of the day. Luckily Two Tone came by and forced me up and going otherwise I may have just made camp right there.

Jun

2022

Day 55

23 miles Didn’t sleep the best last night. I figured the sound of the river would be perfect white noise to drown out the rubbery noises of thermarests being tossed and turned on and the snoring that oh so often accompanies our camp spots but it didn’t help at all. The humidity makes everything sticky. Nothing dries out overnight and it’s so hot that I can’t literally sleep with anything less on. It may sound like I’m bitching but a bad or uncomfortable day out here still beats any day at work. We set off around 7 with 23 miles in our sites for the day. Crazy Eyes has already hiked out by the time we even woke up. The heat was really getting to him yesterday so I assume he set out early to beat the heat. The day kind of goes in this pattern. A 3-5 mile climb with 2-3k elevation gain, then a ridge king walk for a bit and then a 2-3k back down and rinse and repeat. It’s the most elevation we’ve done in a while so I was really dragging towards the end of the day. Oddly enough we didn’t see any hikers all day until around 3 o’clock which is weird because usually there’s people in and around everywhere on this trail. Was kind of nice at the same time though as it felt like I was finally on my own. Tonight we are camping just below the top of Priest Mountain. There is a shelter nearby and you are meant to go to the logbook and confess your sins and “lighten your load” before the final push to the summit.

Jun

2022

Day 54

20 miles Overnight the clouds set really low and fog rolled into the valley that we are sleeping in. Everything is damp and everything we’ve washed is nowhere near dry. We intended on getting up early so that we could beat the other 30 hikers in town to the trailhead and not have to fight for hitches there. We were packed up and on the street corner by 7:15 am. It took us longer than usual. About 20 minutes before a gentleman towing a trailer let us hop in the bed of his truck. I don’t think it’s technically legal to do this in this state but I also don’t think anybody cares. Which I’m grateful for. As we ascend out of the valley we go above the clouds and the sun is shining so bright on us already. It’s 72 degrees at 8 am. Today is going to be a scorcher and indeed it was. The high today is 91 degrees with 60% humidity. The mikes aren’t coming quickly today. We have to stop every 3-5 miles to take breaks and to get more water. I am completely soaked from head to toe in sweat like I just jumped in a pool. Their is a swimming hole about 1 mile before where we were suppose to camp tonight so the plan was to stop there for a quick dip to cool off before we make camp for the night. Fortunately/unfortunately at around 4 pm about an hour before we reach the swimming hole a random stop rolls in and just starts dumping rain out of nowhere. It’s nice because it was hit and we needed to cool down but it wasn’t nice because now all our clothes are soaked and they aren’t going to dry out. I don’t bother putting on my rain jacket because my shirt was already drenched in sweat so might as well let the rain wash me. Anyways we get to the shelter and it’s packed. We have to backtrack a little down the trail to get to a camp spot we saw in the way in. It’s right next to a river. I typically try to avoid camping in spots like this because of the condensation, the noise, and the possibility of snakes. We hit all three. I saw two snakes on the walk there, a garter snake, and another one that I’m not sure what it is. Some kind of water snake or maybe a water moccasin? The river is rushing and dirty from the sudden downpour of rain so it’s very loud, and the condensation is just everywhere.

May

2022

Day 53

20 miles Not much to say about today. Sadness is kind of hanging over us today after yesterdays news. After checking the official AT Facebook group we found a post from his trail family. Turns out he was sitting at the end of the knob and just slumped over and fell off while eating his breakfast. Nobody knows why. I’m sure it’ll come out in the next coming weeks. Vertigo maybe? No matter what, it’s a tragedy. We put our miles and hitched into Glasgow so we can resupply to get to Waynesboro in 3.5 days time. There’s a shelter in town where we pitch our tents. They have an outdoor shower so I shower and do laundry in there simultaneously. A lady from the apartments next door offers us the leftovers from their Memorial Day cookout which was great. Burgers, beans, mac and cheese. That’s all we need.

May

2022

Day 52

22 Miles Today started off so lovely. We opted to walk the Blue Ridge Parkway instead of the AT for a few miles because they are adjacent but you get spectacular views if you take the road so we did. Coming up to one of the gaps, we run into a man that goes by the name of Kamper, who did the AT in 2020, doing trail magic. He’s got a coffee pot set up in the back of his truck with donuts, bananas, baileys, and chocolate milk. He’s such a cool guy. We sit and enjoy our breakfast for a bit and as we are leaving he says, “I’ll be at Jennings Creek later today with dogs and beer if you guys want more trail magic!” Of course we do. It also just so happens to be where we planned to stop for lunch. I asked Kamper since he was going there already if he didn’t mind taking out packs with him so we didn’t have to carry them the next 8 miles. He was more than happy to help us and we were more than happy to not have that extra 15-20 pounds on our back for the walk. What will take us 2.5 hours to hike, will be a 15 minute drive for him. We cruised through the forest light on our feet and in great moods. Might have been the Baileys I put in my coffee but it doesn’t matter. Every day is a great day when you’re on trail. After a swim and As we are sitting enjoy our hotdogs and beer, an older woman thruhiker, starts to tell us someone fell 40 feet off McAfee knob this morning into the rocks below. If you recall McAfee knob was one of the most photographed stops on the AT that we passed just days earlier in the fog and got no view. Obviously this is a horrific incident but as far as she knows the hiker is in still alive with just some internal bleeding. She mentions his name finally. “Grandmaster” she says. Holy shit this is that Dutch kid that we met just 2 days prior. We are all a little rattled but at least he’s okay right? We finish our lunch and head off once again. About half an hour into our walk we come across the same older lady. She takes one look at us and begins to cry. “He died” she says. Grandmaster succumbed to his injuries. This kid was so full of life when we met him. Sad about his grandfather passing but excited to see his family. He’d just done 700 miles on the AT in a foreign country and was one day away from seeing his family. Apparently, he was going to go up to McAfee knob today since the weather was better and you’d actually get a view. One last hike before he caught a plane home the next day to see his family. I don’t know the details of how or why he ended up over the edge of that cliff. All I know it wasn’t intentional and the world is a little less brighter without him in it. It was hard to keep hiking after receiving this news. I’m not sure why it’s effecting me this much. I’d only spoken to him for just a bit but we weren’t close by any means. Idk. Still processing the whole thing. Life is too short and shit can happen good or bad at anytime is all I know right now. Tell your friends and family you love them today.

Acerca de esta travesía

mattontrail

Appalachian Trail

Distancia total249.0 mi

Días totales52

Entradas de diario58

Distancia media/día16.6 mi

Día más largo27.0 mi

Puntos de paso0

Mapa

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