![]() ![]() We weren’t planning on stopping again so soon but Hootenanny raved about this hostel so we had to give it a shot. We hit 1400 miles today! Crazy how these milestones keep flying by! We had a view of the James River and made contact with Charlie who runs Stanimals Hiker hostel in Glasgow (sister location to Waynesboro). Sometimes you can even miss the peak color if you are away for a couple days. You could have long stretches of color before the leaves fall whereas up north it’s a much quicker progression. We did notice the leaves turn much slower down in Virginia. We had another day of great views and climbs with switchbacks. This stretch seems to be a popular long weekend loop. We had breakfast and chatted with some of the other weekend hikers a bit. We slept next to a flowing creek and enjoyed the sounds of water all night. We made our way to shelter and had a nice big fire. We found a wild apple tree and enjoyed some fresh fruit. More hikers were out and we took many breaks at several views. The terrain was very gentle and we enjoyed many views from the grassy bald ridgelines. Luckily the day started to warm up and we headed out. We enjoyed some hot coffee and started a small fire. We decided to sleep in a little since there was still a chill in the air. We snuggled up in our amazingly warm sleeping bags and had a comfortable night. We debated having a fire but ultimately decided to seek the warmth of our tent. We had a warm meal and chatted with her bit. Every sip is refreshing now! We met another SOBO thru-hiker named Fallout. The days of the summer warm water are a thing of the past. Good thing about colder temps is colder water. It was a cold night, our first night below freezing. ![]() The chipmunks and squirrels must be in heaven right now. ![]() It’s a lot like slipping on marbles when you are cruising downhill, not to mention getting popped in the head. We love seeing the changing leaves but could due without the acorns falling. We finished our day with some more views of ridgelines and farmland. Eric confessed to taking 2 PBRs from a trail magic cooler in Caratunk Maine (the kind thing would have been to just take one). Hayley confessed to eating Eric’s granola bars without him knowing. However some were pretty unique and amusing like “I pretend to be nice to NOBOs but I secretly hate them” or “I shamelessly pooped on the side of the road in full view of cars driving by”. The most common sins you will see are hikers peeing in a pit privy (it upsets the chemical breakdown process, moldering privies are the ones you can pee in) or not digging cat holes at least 6 inches (leaving excrement too close to the surface or not buried at all). We enjoyed reading the trail sins and confessions, we even recognized some names. Since you are at Mount Priest it is tradition to confess your trail sins in the hiker log for all to see. This is another well known spot on trail due to the hiker log. We made our way down to the Priest shelter. We were happy to be at higher elevation again. This is also our first 4000 foot summit since Killington in Vermont. The switchbacks were very nice and allowed us to cruise. We made our way up to the summit of Mount Priest. It was a more challenging day we’ve had in a while with over 6500 feet of ascent. Many day hikers and trail runners were out which tells us this is a popular hike in the area. The ridge walk was very enjoyable and the sun was shining. We moved slowly through the rockier terrain, enjoyed views from three ridges and made some friends with the stick bugs. Not sure if we liked our change up in routine but you have to keep it interesting and try new things. We took off and officially started the day. He also took a few days off trail in Harpers Ferry. Soups turned up at the picnic table and we caught up with him. We sat for a longer second breakfast and chatted with the other hikers. We realized what day it was…saturday…the weekend warrior bubble. We arrived at Maupin shelter and were surprised by the number of tents and people sitting around the shelter area. We drank and then hiked 1 mile to shelter which provided water, picnic table and privy for our very early second breakfast. ![]() We finally got the Carnation Instant breakfast to mix with water. We decided to try a different strategy this morning, instead of our usual coffee and breakfast first thing we decided for some breakfast on the go. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |