| Date | Distance | Time | Elevation Gain | Average Moving Time | Year to Date Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9/6/2021 | 10.5 miles | 6 hours 39 minutes | 2,712' | 1.7 mph | 281.3 |
Parking: One car at each parking area
Directions: Hike northbound from VA 625 to VA 623 (one way)
Today we had to drive on the long, gravel, one-way, twisty, rutted road we were on yesterday. I'll be glad to be done with this road. We crossed paths with hunters with dogs in their trucks. It seems too early for hunting season. We never saw any hunters on the trail this week, but we did see many in trucks on the forest roads we drove on. We were hoping that our second parking area would be an easier drive to get to. It wasn't! 7 more miles on a one way gravel road with steep drop offs at times, making passing oncoming cars very challenging. We had to drive into a ditch once to let a truck pass. Luckily we were able to get out of the ditch. I think the ruts on the switchbacks were worse than our first parking area. Our cars hit bottom on some of the switchbacks. A higher clearance vehicle would be preferable. I mean its certainly doable, but not so nice on the car. In the middle of this 7 mile drive was a tiny community of cottages. People live on this road???? We saw lots of ATV's and trucks. No Teslas, lol.
The first part of today's hike was a steep climb. We hiked northbound so that the majority of our climbing would be early in the day. That's so much better than a big climb at the end of the day. We crossed a meadow, full of wildflowers and mountain views. There were tons of buzzing bees on the flowers - I love a good meadow. I had worn a skort today to try to stay cooler. Skorts aren't great for meadow crossings though. I didn't get stung - even though the meadow was overgrown, and I was pushing through the bee covered flowers. We arrived at the Chestnut Knob shelter. It used to be a fire warden's hut, and has been converted into an AT shelter. What a gorgeous view from this shelter! We hiked down to Walker Gap and stopped for lunch. A hiker offered us water and a ride, thinking that we were thru hikers. The next portion of the hike was open forest, which reminded me of our hiking in Harriman. We thought most of our climbing was done, but the next section had several small ups and downs. Then, out of nowhere, I got stung by a bee on the ankle, through my sock. There weren't even flowers around. And I never even saw the bee! There was lots of swearing involved. I had just bought some Sting Kill medicine for bee stings, as I heard its common to get stung in North Carolina. Glen put it on for me, since I was so busy swearing :) The next portion of the hike was not so fun, as my ankle hurt from the sting. The medicine wasn't as effective as people say - maybe because the bee got me right in a vein in my ankle? We stopped and talked to a couple of thru hikers, one called One Step.
I loved the first half of this hike (the part before I got stung). This would make an awesome section to backpack. Oh....except for the damn gravel roads where we parked. Photos don't do this section justice.
Photos are in reverse order. No photos after I got stung by a bee! Too busy moaning!
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