VA Appalachian Trail - Section 5 - Manassas Gap to Chester Gap

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
10/12/2018	8.3 miles	4 hours 6 minutes	1,631'	29:29

Map: Appalachian Trail Guide to Maryland and Northern Virginia
Parking: One car at each end. VA 55 to US 522
Directions: Hike southbound.

We've been trying a few times to finish hiking either the Pennsylvania or Vermont section of the AT. I still had some vacation time left, so we decided to spend a week hiking in Virginia and Pennsylvania. Last night we drove in the pouring rain to York, PA so that we could get at least a partial day of hiking in today. In the morning we drove to Winchester Virginia and picked up a rental car. We decided that an 8 mile hike would be a good distance for today, so we started with Virginia section 5.

My lets are tired. Last weekend we had 2 hard hikes in the Catskills. Monday I did weight training. Tuesday I did cardio and felt exhausted. Wednesday & Thursday were rest days. But event going up the hotel steps, my quads were tired. Its not so good to be starting out a hiking vacation being this tired. Trek is also off. He didn't eat his breakfast this morning. Then while hiking he had diarrhea several times.

Today's weather was perfect for hiking. Cool, windy, no humidity, and some sun. There wasn't much in the way of views. There are a lot of leaves on the ground, but not much in the way of leaf color. It was mostly a wooded hike. We saw a few southbounders today. We hiked southbound - in order to make the hilly portion of the hike earlier in the day. I always like to do the harder portion first, so that at the end of the day when I'm more tired, the hiking is easier.

We got lucky and found an Indian restaurant across the street from our hotel. Bonus - the vegan items are noted.