May 7, 2025 – First day of a 6 day / 45 mile section hike on the Appalachian Trail in the Shenandoah National Park SOBO from Swift Run to Rockfish Gap.
Left my car near the Rockfish Gap entrance to SNP. My shuttle driver Mary drove me the 1.5 hours to the Swift Run Gap, We traded lots of hiking stories as she has completed most of the trail as a section hiker.
Had some breakfast at the side of the road on the rock fence and stated out of the the trail. The plan for the day was short on miles but with a significant climb (significant for me) up Hightop Mountain. Spent a good amount of time at the overlook before heading into the Hightop Hut (Shelter).
The weather was sunny and warm…. too warm for a nap in the tent… smiles. Had the whole shelter area to myself no other hikers stayed the night but did see a number stop for a water fill up.
Stats for the day: 3.66 miles, 1298 ft elevation, 3 hours 30 Min, ave speed 1.0 mph,
May 4 – May 5 I left Woods Hole and headed to Shenandoah National Park and Waynesburg VA for the start of the next adventure.
Drove 25 miles into the SNP to Loft Mountain campground and got some nice overlook photos. Spent 2 days at the campground. I was fairly empty as it was during the week and they had just opened May 1 for the season. Hung out and enjoyed the solitude and got pack organized for my next hike. Great coffee at the camp store !
On May 6 I spent the day in Waynesboro VA which is trail town to the Appalachian trail … found a few coffee shops to update this blog and gluten free pizza for dinner
Found a parking / camping spot near the Rockfish Gap entrance to the park. The is abandoned motel and Howard Johnsons and the parking lot is used by hikers. It was a bit noisy with I64 highway entrance and over pass near by but not too bad. I will park the van here during my hike starting tomorrow.
4/28 – 5/3 – Planned a work / stay at Woods Hole hostel for the week. I have been a guest a number of times during hiking trips since 2020 and wanted to spend some extended time here. What better way to do this than with a ‘work stay”
I arrived on Monday 4/28 after my weekend with “the crud”. I had not eaten before my arrival so I thought I was better but could not be 100% sure. The owner Neville was a bit concerned about my my condition and wanted to be sure I was in the clear. She asked me to come back the next day, Tuesday 4/29. I left disappointed but understood. I went to breakfast and realized I was fine, but decided to wait the day before returning.
I spent the day at various AT trailheads in the area looking for hikers to provide some “trail magic” as well as to find place to spend the night in the van. I never saw one hiker. At one trail point in the afternoon I met a gentleman from West Virginia doing trail magic that had been in the spot all day and only saw 5 hikers. I guess we were still ahead of the “bubble” of hikers doing their northbound thru hike (NOBO).
I spent the night at the “Narrows” AT trailhead near Pearisburg. This was my second time here as I started a section hike from this same location a few years back.
In the morning I headed back to Woods Hole for my week stay. Woods Hole is a refurbished log Chestnut cabin from 1880. Additional buildings for a bunk house and shower house have been added. They provide homemade breakfast and dinner each day. It is hard to describe but I consider this place magical and I just get very emotional each time I stay here. (and emotional writing this)
I was able to park my van “up the hill” on the property and was able to have access to electricity from an extension cord form the pole barn… this was perfect.. Spent the week learning the process of working various jobs and assisting with meal prep and cleaning each day for the guests.
Th real fun staying at a Woods Hole is meeting all the hikers coming through. Each day there was maybe 5 to 10 hikers. Some stay one night, some stay second night when they realize how nice this place can be. Hikers come from all over, I met someone from UK, Western North Carolina near me and all parts of the US. The hiking stories are endless form of entertainment.
The days start early at 7am since hikers like to get early starts when leaving. I was usually in my van, done for the day by 7PM. The week went by very quickly A few days i had almost 15,000 steps!! The weather was prefect most days… sunny and highs in the 60’s most days. A big strom came trough during the middle of the night with lightning and hail… that was exciting
The owner Neville Harris is such a wonderful person. I just love the energy she has with her place. She offers yoga, fresh organic vegetable for the garden with coffee and dinner served on her hand made poetry. There is so much history here. Her grandmother who created the hostel is in the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame for her support of the trail.
4/25 – 4/27 – Found the reason I was not feeling well yesterday. Somewhere I caught the stomach virus going through the trail. I has seen one kid at Dragons toot that was sick and saw 2 hikers on the last day of my hike that were getting back on trail after being sick. I never touched a shelter so not sure how I picked it up unless it was water based.
Got sick overnight the first night at Huckleberry. Not sure is this was Noro virus and that is normally both ends… I just had the back end issues. Spent the day on my back trying to drink fluids. The owner was nice but not sure he was happy to have a sick guest that could affect other guest. I was able to keep my distance
Decided I need to get a room to have a close bathroom and shower. Found a room in Salem, Virginia. Stayed there Saturday 4/26 and Sunday 4/27. Tired to eat during this time, but did not go well.
The symptoms normally last 3 days so I was hopefully to be back to normal Monday
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" 