VA Appalachian Trail - Section 42 - Dickey Gap VA 650 to VA 603

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
9/11/2021	9 miles	4 hours 32 minutes	1,497'	2.1 mph	319.4

Map: ATC Tennessee-North Carolina, Maps 3 and 4

Parking: One car at each parking area

Directions: Hike from VA 603 to Dickey Gap (one way)

Sometimes shuttling cars is challenging. We originally parked our first car at Mount Rogers Headquarters and drove our second car to Teas Road. Teas Road is paved, but only has 2 parking spots, and those were both taken. So we tried driving the second car to VA 601, which is only 4.1 miles away from Mount Rogers Headquarters. This was a gravel road, and was very rutted. We drove for a while, and then started getting concerned that we'd get stuck. Of course it was a one way road, so we ended up driving backwards, trying to avoid the ruts until we could find a spot to turn around. So, then we drove back to pick up car number one and drove both cars to work on a completely different section. I had backpacked the majority of this section with Adventures in Good Company, but had missed 1.3 miles of it. Glen needed this whole section.

 
We saw a handful of thru hikers today, and stopped to talk to one who we had seen multiple times before this week. He was getting tired of his hike. We wish him luck. I recognized parts of this hike from my AGC trip. I remember in one spot, I had received a map and compass lesson. One of the highlights of today was seeing a juvenile black bear. Krumm alerted us to it. It looked like a stump at first, but then we noticed it was digging. Krumm was on leash, so it wasn't a problem. He's very quiet too. The bear paid no attention to us as we passed by it.

 
We crossed over Comer's Creek, where the bridge had been washed out when I hiked here before. The bridge hasn't been replaced, but there are now new wooden steps that let you more easily climb down the banks down to the creek. The water levels were low, so we had no problem with the crossing. Well, I got my shoes completely soaked (typical) and Glen's shoes were completely dry (also typical).
I want to do the next section south of here again as a backpack. It's an incredible spot on the trail.