This is a trip report for a solo northbound hike on the Appalachian Trail from the intersection of Hwy 321 and the AT in Tennessee to the backpackers parking lot at Massie Gap in Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia.
The trip was about a 75 mile hike and was started on Tuesday June 25th around 5:45pm and finished up after 5 nights on the trail Sunday morning around 11:00am.
My wife was out of town for a conference (she actually didn't leave until the 26th) so I took the opportunity to sneak off to the woods for the longest hike I have done yet. I just turned 30 a few weeks before and I am in decent shape but certainly not the best shape I've been in before a hike. This completes a section for me that now goes from 321 to the Northern border of the Mt. Rogers NRA. My goals is to now hike South a little each year and try to finish TN, NC, and GA.
I have been backpacking many times and am very familiar with the area around Mt. Rogers and have been to Watauga Lake but never to hike.
I left work right at noon on Tuesday and drove straight to the parking area at Mt. Rogers. I work just north of Charlotte in Huntersville and it is about a 2.25 hour drive to the entrance to the park. After paying my parking fee I drove into the park and had a bear run right in front of my car, it was the only bear I would see all week.
I am lucky enough to have a great friend who lives in the area and was willing to complete my shuttle for me. We drove through Ashe County and then through Boone to get to the trailhead and it took longer than expected, about 2 hours. If you need a shuttle MRO in Damascus will run a shuttle for you.
I hit the trail just before 6pm, much later than anticipated with a goal of reaching the Vandeventer Shelter that night some 9 miles away. The weather was great maybe a little warm but very pleasant. The trail in this area was easy to find and was well marked. I past the watauga lake shelter that looked very nice but was very close to the road and the trial was littered with trash.
I felt like I was moving slow and was having trouble setting a good pace but kept going. I made it to the dam at 645. Watauga Dam is the highest earthen dam in the east and is a pretty cool place to take in the view. The dam was being worked on by some friendly people as well. There is also a great song about the dam by Old Crow Medicine Show called Half Mile Down.
Watauga Dam
From here the trail goes pretty steady uphill. I hiked that night well into the dark hoping to see the shelter but it was to no avail. I quit around 930. I skipped dinner and just get camp set up and went to bed. My spirits were pretty low to be behind schedule this early in the hike, skipping dinner didn't help either.
It rained off and on that night but I slept like a dream. I should have taken measurements to how I set up my hammock that night because I got an amazing night of sleep. Some of it was the hammock I'm sure and some of it was just knowing I was away from work and in the woods.
For this trip I used my claytor jungle hammock and claytor diamond tarp. I have a cinch buckle suspension system and use 2 msr groundhog stakes to anchor the tarp. I also have figure 9's on my tarp for quick setup and easy adjustment.
I got up the next morning around 630 got my food down and ate breakfast. It was a beautiful Appalachian morning with cool weather and fog. My camo tarp disapeared in the woods as soon as I got more than 15 yards away which is always cool to see how well camo can work sometimes.
As soon as I got my food down the rain started. This was the the start of just about 3 full days of rain, rain, and more rain. It was actually thundering at 7am which I found strange. After waiting for it to stop and listening to a little Peter Rowan I gave up and broke camp in the rain.
I made it to Vandeventer shelter just about an hour after hitting the trail but I was still behind schedule. I did find it interesting that there was no memorial or recognition of the hiker who lost her life at that shelter. It may be morbid but I thought it might be nice to recognize and memorialize her life and hike there.
Vandeventer Shelter (it is exactly what all the Tennessee shelters look like)
The rain continued all day. I kept a decent pace through the mud and the trail was mostly either slightly uphill or slightly downhill.
I stopped for a late lunch at Iron Mt. shelter. It had a great water supply and a picnic table. Had some tuna on a tortillia and was feeling pretty good.
All the Tennessee shelters were identical. Very basic with cinder block walls and one sleeping level with room for about 8 hikers. None had a privy.
I did slip on some rocks at one point and bent one of my Leki Trecking poles but it held up the rest of the trip without any issue, I just can't colapse it.
My goal was to get to Abingdon Gap shelter that night but it wasn't looking likely. The weather cleared up and when I crossed US 90 it was a very nice afternoon/evening. This is the prettiest section of trail I had seen as all my views of Watauga Lake were covered by clouds and rain. The trail crosses a pretty farm where they had just bailed some round and square bales. There were also some cows in the fields. As I was hiking across this pretty section the weather was very obviously turning as another storm was blowing in. I was hiking as fast as possible as I could see the lightning and I didn't want to be standing in the middle of the field when it hit. I made it back to the woods just as it started to pour again. Put my rain gear back on and hiked on through the down pour and lightning.
I told myself based on my pace and the rain that I would see Double Springs Shelter, my home for the night around 8:00, maybe 730 if I was lucky. At 6:57 I came around a to a clearing and there it was! I was soo soo happy. My feet hurt, my shoulders were sore, my knees were throbbing, and I was soaked. My spirits were instantly lifted. I ate a huge dinner and hung my hammock just behind the shelter. Great water source again so I filled up and then went to bed.
I pitched my tarp high after the storm had passed and hung all my wet gear and clothes in the shelter to dry. I hadn't seen anyone all day and had the place to myself again.
At about 1:30am I woke back up to rain and incredibly loud ground shaking thunder. Another storm had blown in and it was raining sideways! Water was blowing in, a river had formed underneath of me, and I was watching the sky light up as bright as day every few seconds. This continued all night. for the first time my lines that hold up the claytor bug net soaked through and started dripping on my forehead. I have used this hammock for years and in many nasty storms and this had never happened before but it was just that kind of night. I didn't sleep much at all.
I got up the next morning and ate some breakfast in the shelter. I also had to check and see if the wind had dried out any of my hanging gear. No luck the wind had just blown rain into the shelter and all of my stuff was more wet that morning than when I hung it out to dry. I did get some company from a section hiker that morning while I wrung out my clothes she stopped in and we talked about the storm. she had hike South to mid virginia the previous summer and was finishing up what she missed and had to get to Fontanna Dam before school started back.
I put on wet clothes with the hope of making it some 20 miles to Damascus Virginia and find a dry place to sleep and hopefully a dryer.
I made it to Abingdon Gap Shelter just after 2, still 10 miles to Damascus and still raining. I actually passed a small wooden shelter about 2 miles before the shelter that was not on the map. It would only be big enough for about 2 people and the walls did not have any chinking. Note that I did not take many pics up until this point simply because it was never dry and my camera stayed in my pack.
I left the shelter and decided to push on to Damascus with the goal to reach the town no matter how late I had to hike. I passed 2 guys around 330 that had left Damascus that morning. It was slightly concerning that they had hiked all day and only made it that far and made me wonder if I would be hiking until midnight. They looked slow to me and I was really finding my stride at that point.
I made it to the Virginia state line at 6 and was only 3.5 miles from town! I had found my stride and the rain was finally letting up.
Made it to Damascus just before 8pm. I was happy to be there and still in my rain pants even though the rain had stopped I didn't want to sit down. I walked through town on a great evening and was greeted by several residents. I headed for The Place to claim a bunk. At The Place I checked in and paid my $6 to Atlas the caretaker who had been staying since trail days. Atlas was super helpful and friendly! He got me set up with a hot shower and I hung all my gear out to dry. The only clothes I had that were dry was a bathing suit and my down jacket so I put them on with my wal-mart crocs and went into town after some food. The blue blaze cafe was all that was open. I had a pizza and a beer for $8 and was very happy but looked like a fool in what I was wearing, I felt like a hiker and could not have cared less about how I looked. I was happy to be clean and well fed.
The Place
Free food from the locals! Hard boiled eggs (I ate 6)
The place was a great spot to sleep but all that is provided was a wooden bunk. I only carry a cheap ccf foam pad that covers my butt in the summer so the wood really didn't look that enticing. I was the only person there that night so I broke the rules and opted for a couch.
I got up the next day and resupplied at the Dollar General in town and MRO, the local outdoor shop. By Atlas's recommendation I hike the Virginia Creeper trail until it intersected the AT and skipped a few climbs. My gear was dry, my clothes clean, and my belly full. I felt great and was making excellent time on the creeper trail.
One note on The Place they are having to pay to replace all of their plumbing or face being shut down. I think a kickstarter needs to be launched to help raise funds and surely all the hikers and bikers that have enjoyed a bed for $6 could throw in a few bucks.
It only rained once that day (it was now Friday) and not for too long. I covered a great deal of trail and was finally back on schedule. After a long climb I enjoyed my first real views of the hike. This was just passed Beech Mt and before Whitetop. I continued on to Buzzard Rock and it looked like another storm was blowing in so I didn't linger on the bald with no campsites.
I set up camp on Whitetop Mountain around 830. Another long day of hiking but I felt great. The weather finally looked good and once again I had a campsite to myself. I thought I heard some voices but never saw anyone. I would like to head back to this area and explore as there is a road that looks like it goes to the top. I was pretty beat so I did not hike to the summit on this trip.
The next morning I got an early start after a nice night where I enjoyed some tea and listened to some Railroad Earth until I fell asleep for another great night in the hammock.
I only hike until 3 the next day on a picture perfect mountain day. I stopped constantly to take in the views. This day simply made the trip. It was a great day of solo hiking and was one of the soul refreshing almost spirtatual days on a mountain that just could not have been any better. It was days like this that keep you coming back and makes me feel the same joy I always imagine that drove John Muir on his adventures.
I set up camp must North of Thomas Knob. I cooked dinner on the grassy area and talked with a bunch of other groups of hikers. It was nice to have some company. I have camped here many nights before and new the area well. It was the clearest day I had ever spent on Mt. Rogers and I could clearly make out all the peaks in the area from Grandfather Mountain, to Sugar Mountain, Mt. Mitchell and the black mountain crest, Hanging Rock/Seven Devils, 3 top, and on and on. It was amazing and a glorious time to be on the mountain.
I went to bed around 9 and was serenaded by a group of campers from inner city Richmond singing Bohemian Rapsody. It was great.
The next morning I was on the trial by 830 and hiked a very familiar and rocky section of trail back to the AT Spur trail that connects to Massie Gap parking. Got back just before 11.
I was sad to end the day and the trip. I felt like my legs and body had adjusted to the trail and that I could just keep going and going.
I grabbed a shower at the campground and then headed to meet a few friends at Shatley Springs just down the road in Ashe County.
I felt great and had a wonderful trip despite some poor weather. I felt like a real through hiker though having hiked in the rain, broke camp in the rain, and set up camp in the rain, and did it all again. I packed too much food as usual so I need to work on that.
I also want to start exploring some lighter hammocks in my quest to always lower my pack weight. When I set off with water and food my pack was 42.7 pounds.
Thanks for sitting though my lengthy trip report! I write these for my own reference as much as everyone else's. This was a great section. It is simple to navigate and the only places you need to be careful about water or hanging sites are on the balds. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions.
Happy Hiking!
Yosef
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