McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 10/11/2024 | AT Mile 1114.9 | Day Total: 22.8 miles | Gain: 3516 ft

Woke up once last night for an hour or so and keep turning but slept good otherwise. There’s a wheeled ac unit right next to me that I had blowing right on me all night. It was lovely.

I packed up for the most part and went into the dining room/ kitchen to make breakfast. The caretaker offered to cook us some eggs! She also had some coffee brewing!

After breakfast I finished packing my bag and headed out. They have an event going on today so she asked us to be out by 9. I was on the trail at 7:50. It’s a cool 41 degrees outside. It put a little pep in my step this morning.

Had a steady climb up, keep the blood flowing and warm. I passed the permanent (doesn’t change place every year) half way marker. It’s about 3 miles before I reach the actual 2024 half way point. It’s not time to celebrate yet… There’s a log book that I filled out!

I filled up on water about 4 miles into the hike today. The next stretch is pretty dry so I filled both my bottles. The shelter I stoped at to fill my bottles is very nice. It’s got firewood and a pavilion over the picnic table.

I was walking along the ridge for a while and I had an alarm set for me to check far out for the mileage I was at. I eventually made it to mile 1098.7 the official 2024 half way point!!! There was a little sign on a tree marking the location! I’ve probably said this before but it’s hard to believe that I’ve made it so far!

Afterword the trail continued along the very open ridge. It was stunning to see all the colors changing. They’ve really popped out!

It wasn’t long before I made it to the 1100 mile mark. This felt like nothing compared to the half way mark.

At noon I stopped at a cabin to eat lunch. Sounds like you can rent the cabin and it’s locked right now. There’s a nice bench by the trail that I ate lunch at. I packed pepper jack cheese and pepperoni for lunch now that it’s getting cooler.

I passed a section hiker on my way down to the cabin and we had a conversation about the trail. He’s done some sections around this area but was asking about how the whites compared to Katahdin.

The rest of the afternoon I passed a lot of day hikers. There’s a bunch of little trailheads in this area and it’s also a Friday. Not many views this afternoon. I could sometimes see neighborhoods in the valley through the trees but it didn’t show on camera well. The only okay view/opening I got was by some power lines. The trees are super vibrant.

I made a gradual descent into Caledonia State Park. I passed the Taj Mahal of shelters. Super clean, freshly painted, not falling apart… I could go on. I wish I had seen it on FarOut so I could plan on staying here. It even had potted flowers.

The trail in this area is really well kept. The rhododendron was trimmed and the path had sections of nice rock stairs. I eventually made it to the main campground of the state park and loaded up with water because the shelter we’re staying at likely doesn’t have water according to the FarOut comments. So now I’m carrying nearly 8 pounds of water for the remaining 3.5 miles to the shelter. I need water for hiking today, dinner tonight, breakfast tomorrow and the next 7 miles in the morning.

I walked along the Conococheague Creek just before crossing the busy Route 30. I was patient and waited for a long clearing.

The climb ended up not being that bad. It’s so nice to have climbs that are super steep just long and steady. I’m able to keep a better pace this way. There were some fun rock sections as I got further up.

I passed by a gentleman on the phone, he had a large great dane mixed german shepherd dog. He was really big. He followed me for a quarter mile through the rocks before returning to his owner.

I eventually made it to the shelter that’s down the mountain quite a bit. There’s two shelters here and nobody here yet for which I’m surprised because it’s 5pm on a Friday. The shelters were clean and there was a flower pot hanging from the awning. Not as luxurious as the previous one I passed today but it’s still very nice. I decided to setup in the shelter, the tent options don’t seem too good.

The gentleman with the dog showed up shortly after. They are doing a day hike and returning back to the state park. He plans to do a thru hike in 2026. He asked a lot of questions about gear because last time he carried 55lbs worth of gear. He’s got a trail name, Shepard- I didn’t ask but I assume he got it from his German Shepard mix dog he travels with. He said his dog would have to stay behind on his thru hike. It’s tough to take a dog on a long hike.

Kill Bill showed up while we were talking. He stoped at the BBQ place down the street and was giving trail magic from the owner because they had just ran out of the majority of their food.

I ate dinner, Knorr butter and herb pasta tonight. I also finished off a bag of Fritos and protein bar.

A group of weekend hikers just showed up before sunset. I’m hoping they are not too loud tonight.