GG and I took a short hiatus from the trail to take care of things at home, but we are back for another section. We made the eight hour drive yesterday. We didn't want to spend more money for a hotel since there are a lot of great hostels in the next section and we are budgeting for those. So, we parked the truck on the road and walked into the Partnership Shelter, a two-story shelter which is about one-quarter mile from the road, behind the office of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area.
We arrived in plenty of time to set up in the shelter and eat dinner. The weather remains cold and windy, so we each picked opposite corners of the shelter to avoid the occasional frigid wind that blows in. A few other hikers arrived before bed and they chose to sleep upstairs, so we have the downstairs to ourselves. We were in bed by dark, which is around 8 pm.
We woke up quite early at 5 am. We make coffee, but we don't want to pack while the gentlemen are sleeping upstairs, since it may wake them. We have so much time to spare before our shuttle, I decide to drive into town and get a hot breakfast, and GG agreed to join me. So we grab some breakfast burritos and a fresh coffee from McDonald's, which is the only thing open in Atkins, Virginia right now, other than the truck stop.
I came up with a cockamamie (and slightly complicated) plan for the next week. I arranged a shuttle with Cole to pick us up at Partnership this morning. Cole was unable to do the shuttle himself, but he will send a friend to take us back to Dickey Gap (mile 520). We will hike the 15 miles back here tonight, pick up the truck, then drive ahead to Weary Feet Hostel off mile 610, where I will leave my car for the next section. We will stay at Weary Feet tonight, then get picked up tomorrow by another shuttle driver to bring us back here tomorrow morning to continue on from here north. Whew! I should get into logistics!
We return to Partnership, where the others are awake. We quickly pack and take everything to the truck, except for our daypacks and snacks. We have on all our layers, since it is 30 degrees out right now. At five minutes to 8, a red jeep pulls up and does a u-turn. Cole and his friend are very prompt, and we both appreciate how dependable they are. We pile in and make the 20 minute trip to Dickey Gap.
The air is thick with mist with the visibility is very limited with a high probability of rain in the forecast. The mist is so thick, in fact, that we have on our rain gear. Out of the gate, just like every other start of our day, we go uphill.
We make pretty good time, even with the slippery conditions. After four miles, we walk down a short blue-blazed trail to the Trimpi Shelter, where we stop for a snack. The shelter is made of stone with a fireplace in the middle of two sets of bunks that can sleep 6 people. It's charming, but you wouldn't catch me sleeping inside: the mice here are epic. There are 5 people breaking camp, and one is in the shelter with a camp chair and a Lucy lamp. He is definitely glamping! I'm not skimping either, as I enjoy freeze-dried banana chips and dark chocolate for a snack.
The threat of rain passes and the sun is starting to peek out from the clouds, but I leave on my rain gear, since the plants shower us with water at the slightest brush of a sleeve. We are hiking downhill, so the extra layers doesn't make me too hot. We go through a fence with a gate and cross a very pretty pasture. There is no sign of livestock, but there are lots of lovely yellow daffodils. We go through another gate and see a very old school bus on the forest road ahead. Trail Magic!
A gentleman offers us a rest and a quesadilla cooked on his small electric griddle. We accept with thanks, and I enjoy a coffee, powdered creamer and all, while GG takes a quesadilla! Like so many others here, the gentleman is working under the auspices of a local church who use the trail magic as outreach. We say goodbye after enjoying our second rest stop within an hour.
The wind picks up as we hike to the top of a ridge, which we follow for the next five miles. The views are really nice from both sides, and at one point we look back and see Mount Rogers to the south. Ridge walking is especially lovely this time of year, since the leaves have yet to fill in and block the views. We can look ahead and see the entire ridge we will be walking, which is really cool.
We meet a gentleman walking towards us who sports a long, carved wood staff and wears an old, heavily laden rucksack. He pulls up and tells us he is a local who, at 77 years of age, is training to hike the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim. We must look trail weary, because he informs us the trail heads downhill to some thick woods after a small rocky section.
The only downside to ridge walking this time of year is the lack of leaves exposes us to the howling wind, which smacks us in the face the entire hike. I forgot to layer up with a skin barrier, so my face is going to be very chapped tomorrow! I have on every layer on, and the cold manages to penetrate to my bones. I struggle to stay warm until we descend to some woody protection as we near Partnership Shelter.
We arrive back to the truck and shrug out of our wet shoes and socks. I am so sore and so cold! I can't believe how tight my muscles feel. I definitely need to stretch more often. We throw our wet and dirty stuff in the back of the truck for the drive to Weary Feet, just off mile 610 of the trail, where we will leave the vehicle for the remainder of this section.
I'm craving a salad, so we stop at a Ruby Tuesday as we drive up the interstate. GG has never eaten at one before, and I go back to fill up on fresh veggies a second time since we may not have them again for a while.
We pull into Weary Feet Hostel around dusk. The ride here from Partnership took one hour and thirty minutes, paralleling the trail for most of the way. I can't believe it will take us one week to hike what took us only 90 minutes to drive! We check in and do laundry, shower, and figure out our meals for the next few days. This hostel is a big old Victorian with several bedrooms made into bunk rooms. GG and I share a bedroom with two brass beds that are super comfy. There is only one other hiker here tonight. One of the benefits of hiking off-season is we don't have to worry about space in hostels or waiting in line for laundry or showers. By 10 pm we are lights out!
Today's stats: 14 miles, 2884 feet
Trail stats: 534 miles, 133K feet gain
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