This is a trip report for a trip going southbound on the AT starting at the intersection of the the AT and Highway 16 at the North end of Mount Rogers National Recreation Area. You actually pick up the trail at the NRA headquarters. I hiked south back to my car at Massie Gap in Mount Rogers state Park ending my hike on Friday July 22 at 2:15.
I got on the trail at 5:40 on Wednesday July 20th. The NRA closes at 5 so if you are planning on leaving a car here be aware. Just behind the building is Partnership Shelter. I didn't stop but in passing it looked like a very nice and very well maintained shelter. The trail here was pretty flat and I felt like I was able to keep a pretty fast pace. I crossed state road 601 at around 7:30 it was 4 miles from Partnership Shelter.
To this point there really weren't any views to speak of and the elevation was all under 3,000 feet. It was also one of the hottest weeks of the year but you don't chose your weather.
I crossed a few peaks but nothing too strenuous, and crossed some power lines. I hiked until a little after 8 and found a nice campsite with plenty of good places to hang. I had passed a good number of campsites and you would not have had to look long to find a site. I believe I camped somewhere near rocky hollow.
when I got in my hammock that night I heard an animal noise I was not familiar with. I was solo hiking and had not seen anyone since I was dropped off. It was kind of a high pitch noise and I could not identify it as anything I had heard before. It was up the hill and east of where I was, I just put in my headphones and then went to bed though. The next morning at about 6 I woke up to something running through my camp site and I tried to get out of my hammock in time to catch a glimpse of it but didn't It sounded pretty large and if I had to guess I'd say it was a deer. Just after it ran through though I started hearing that same noise this time to the west of where I was. I got up and started packing.
I also have to say I have been spending a lot of time in my ENO doublenest and when sleeping in my Claytor it just was not anywhere near as comfortable.
I was passed by a solo female hiker around 7 with a day pack as I was packing up. she had a pretty early start.
I got back on the trail at 730. I filled up my water just a little ways down the trail. I am using a steri pen and that thing gave me hell all trip. I could not get it to stay on and by Friday I was ready to leave at the shelter for someone else to mess with. I don't know what I was doing wrong but it annoyed me to no end and I have never had that much trouble using it before. I filled up my 3.5 liters of water 7 times on Thursday, it was hot and I was sweating.
I crossed over state road 670. It was a paved road and you cross a bridge of a pretty good sized piece of water. Just over the bridge you enter into a field and I could see some cows to my left as I hiked. I met an old man out picking black berries and I picked a bunch with him and they were amazing. This was about the last time I was in an open field all day.
I hiked on to Trimpi Shelter. The shelter was small but very nice. It as a few hundred yards off the trail and had a spring and privy. I got to trimpi around 11 and while taking a break met a day hiker. He was an engineer with the day off, originally from new england. I hiked on from there, the trail was pretty typical some uphill some down nothing crazy and not too rocky either.
I hiked on and at lunch just after crossing another intersection with Highway 16. The trail does not cross the highway but does come right up to it. I went just pass the intersection and stopped for lunch at Comer Creek Falls. The falls were pretty but not huge. I think at this point although I had drank over 6 liters of water I was a little dehydrated. My pace had really slowed and just felt different. I ate and rehydrated over the course of an hour. I had my staple trail lunch, a tuna packet on a tortillia with some cheese. Just to note there is no racoon branch shelter or at least I never saw it or saw a sign for it.
From there I hiked on. On the way to state road 603 I did have some big climbs. I crossed state road 603 around 6 and it looked like I might get some rain and thundered for a while but it never rained. I made the last climb to old orchard shelter about 2 miles from SR 603 and got to the shelter at 730. I was pretty beat, it was about 20 miles from where I started that morning.
The shelter had tons of places to hang. It had a great privy that was as nice as any I had used. There was also a large group camping. They were a church and had probably 15 teenagers with them. Not overly friendly only one person from the group came up to the shelter to talk. The We were in a wilderness area though and they had been backpacking all over it for several days and their group size was well over the limit for the wilderness area. They also had a big campfire, also not allowed in the wilderness area.
I cooked a mountain house dinner and hung my bear bag as best I could and went to bed. This was the first trip I brought my ipod on and I was glad i had it. If I had had any energy I would have hiked another mile up the the trail for some more solitude. I also forgot rope so I was not able to really hang a bear bag but didn't have any trouble.
I overslept a little Friday morning and got on the trail around 830. Had an awful time that morning with the steri pen (suggestions welcome). I had to hustle to get back to the car b/c I had to pick up my wife from the airport in Charlotte at 515. I was about 9 miles from the car. I didn't stop much that day although it was hands down the prettiest part of the hike. I have hiked here many times before so powering through was no big deal but if its your first time here take your time the views are great the hiking is just perfect.
I made it back to the car at about 220 just before the rain started. I took quick shower at the campground and then got on the road.
Overall a great hike, I wanted to push myself a little bit and knew how much ground I had to cover to get back to the car and when I needed to be back in Charlotte. It was fun and hopefully next summer I can hike from Watauga lake to Massie Gap and knock out another section of the AT.
I will be back to edit and update this post over the next few days as I have pictures to share and some more details to add. I hope its not too detailed and boring, I enjoy writing the reports and hope it helps others in their plans.
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