April 22 – The plan is a 3 day AT Section hike, 20 miles or so, from McAffee Knob Trailhead, Rt 311 in Catawba VA to Daleville VA. Today is Day 1.
Spent the night in the van in the parking lot of the closed Valley Cleaners in Daleviille VA. This is where my hike will end. The trail comes out to Rt 220 right next door to the cleaners. I was picked up at 7 am by my shuttle driver Homer and he drove me to the trailhead for McAfee Knob. They built a new bridge to cross the busy 311 highway. It was dedicated about 3 weeks before my hike.
Had some breakfast after being dropped off and hit the trail. The first day was planned for “only” 4 miles or so but include the climb to McAfee. The climb was long steady along a well maintained trail that is well used by day hikers and AT hikers.
The payoff is the view at the top and getting the iconic Appalachian Trail photo standing on the McAfee Knob cantilevered rock. The previous day I had run into a hiking club that had come to VA to do the triple crown, they had passed me just before the top and while at the views assisted with my photos.
The Campbell shelter was not far down the back side of McAfee Knob where I setup up camp for the night near the water source. I normally drink a ton of water when hiking and camping near a water source is much needed. This water came from a spring that move pretty quickly those a hose someone had set up. There was a great light show at night as the mountain location of my camp looked down on what I assume was Roanoke (no photos)
The stats for the day: 5.36 miles, 1591 ft elevation, 4 hours 51 min, 1.1 mile per hours pace includes time enjoying the view at the top.
Adventures of an AT Section hiker "Mapless" 
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