AT Section Hike - James River to Catawba Part II

April 14, 2009
Cove Mt Shelter to Wilson Creek Shelter
13.7 miles
Overcast, mist

Had a pretty good night with only Signage and me in the shelter. Rained most of the night, so glad we were safe inside. Woke to overcast, foggy conditions with a light mist, but all part of the AT adventure as are the sunny and bright days too. Donned rain jackets and pack covers and trekked onward. Only had a few short bouts of real rain, but did miss some of the lovely views from the overlooks. Met a few NOBOs at Bobblett Gap shelter and a few more after that when we arrived in mid afternoon at Wilson Creek Shelter. They had all started in mid to late Feb and were enjoying their time, if coping with a lot of rain this season. It is interesting to hear of their adventures and encouraging them to make it all the way to Maine. Now I am looking forward to going to Signage's house tomorrow night for a shower and laundry. And Thurs. and Friday look good for our next section with my friend I met on Facebook, Beth.

April 15th
From Wison Creek Shelter to Daleville
11.2 miles
Cloudy to clearing

Rained during the night, so once again we were glad to be under cover in a shelter. Packed up and headed out in foggy conditions to find it soon clearing with views looking out to Daleville and the surrounding ridge. Ate lunch at Fullhardt Knob shelter then proceeded down the trail and through farmer's fields to reach Signage's SUV parked at the Kroger. She then took me to Salem and showed me her town and her little house. A shower never felt so good and it was good to have clean clothes. We then went to Mac and Bobs for a nice chicken parmesan dinner that proved too much on our fragile stomachs used to eating trail food. Had a good night's sleep.

April 16
From Daleville to Lambert Meadow Campsite
10 miles
Sunny

Went to a nearby coffee house for bagels where I had decaf blueberry brandy coffee - a first for me, I must say. We drove to Catawba where we met Beth for the first time and left one of the cars, then piled into Signage's car to drive to Daleville and our starting point for this leg of the trip. I had hiked one mile of the AT when I realized I had inadvertently left my insole in Signage's car. Jogged it back to the car through thick mud to retrieve it, then met up with the others to continue on. Thankfully we are not doing high stressed mileage! Beautiful views from the ridgeline, much different then when I had done this section twice before. I had a feeling I was going to enjoy this. Nice, relaxed pace where we stopped to admire the views. Found a place to camp by a stream near the Lambert Meadow shelter. That night, Beth got her trail name Lucky as it wasn't too cold and she had not packed exactly the right clothing for a night out in mid April (no jacket, etc). So we decided to call her Lucky.

April 17
From Lambert Meadow Campsite to Catawba
10.2 miles
Sunny

Awoke to another bright and beautiful sunny day on the AT. Hiked the Tinker Cliff area for outstanding views. Lucky bothered by allergies and had taken Benadryl so she stopped often to snooze along the way. Again glad for a relaxed schedule. Ate lunch midway between Tinker and McAfee Knob, then went up the knob for the customary picture. Found a nice campsite down by Catawba Mtn shelter to set up, but were soon infiltrated by Boy Scouts and decided to hike out as our car was only two miles away. Unfortunately I hiked a bit too fast in the dark and ended up spraining my ankle, but managed to hike it out and back to Signage's house for ice and a night's rest.

Had a great hike on this section and great companions.

AT Section Hike - James River to Catawba Part 1

Signage and Blissful ready to embark on our week long section hike of the AT.

April 11, 2009

James River to Marble Spring Campsite

7.9 miles

Cloudy, wind

We picked up Signage from her car at the Daleville Kroger and drive to our starting point at the James River footbridge, a unique structure built solely for AT hikers to cross the wide James River instead of sharing a bridge with busy traffic. The day started out warm but rapidly turned cold and windy with a new front moving in. had some decent uphill climbs but with nice winter views of the James River along the way. We met up with my husband, Skipper, just shy of the Marble Springs camping area and found a spot, just as a large hiking group came in. The place was packed with over 20 hikers there, but they all ended up fairly quiet, mainly because everyone was so cold. Met section hiker Steps from Michigan. Skipper and I watched the sun set. A cold wind blew through my tent all night.

April 12, Easter Sunday

Marble Springs Campsite to Cornelius Creek Shelter

12.2 miles

Cold, Sunny

A cold and blustery night made for a tough morning trying to pack up with iced cold fingers. Did quite a bit of climbing, but thankfully Skipper slacked us for a 3 mile portion of it from Petites Gap to the BRP which made it a bit easier. Still, we did a lot of climbing and very little downhill. When we finally met up with Skipper on the Blue Ridge Parkway, he had a surprise waiting - an Easter feast of genuine crabcakes with asparagus! Doesn't get any better than that! We walked with him to the guillotine rock formation for pictures, then shouldered our packs and headed up and over Apple Orchard Mtn, the highest peak between Clingman's Dome and Mt Moosilauke. Arrived at the shelter and had it to ourselves, though we elected to tent.

April 13

Cornelius Creek Shelter to Cove Mtn. Shelter

11.9 miles

Overcast, sprinkles

Left under overcast skies headed for Bryant Ridge shelter and our lunch spot. This is a beautiful tri level shelter with plenty of room for 20 hikers. On and off again sprinkles that didn't amount to much, thank goodness, as trying to hike uphill in raingear is the pits. Arrived at Jennings Creek to fill up at water as the shelter we planned to stay at had none. This made for a tough hike with lots of extra weight and sore leg muscles. Had some groin pain as well, which was new for me. Made good time where we met a NOBO hiker, Jolly Rancher, and his dog. He left though, and we had the place to ourselves. With the pending rain, we elected to stay in the shelter. Signage got a nice fire going, and we had a relaxing evening. Rain held off until later that night and rained all night. Glad to be safe inside.

Signage's fire