McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 10/19/2024 | AT Mile 1290.1 | Day Total: 23.3 miles | Gain: 4567 ft

Woke up before the sunrise. I went down to the shelter to get my food from the bear box. The box opened with a loud bang when I depressed the bear proof latch. Hopefully I didn’t wake anyone up…

Last night, not sure what time, an animal was walking around the camp. It was definitely larger my guess is a deer. It didn’t make any grunting or have heavy breathing like a bear likely would. But it circled back and forth for some time.

Packed up and said goodbye to the folks in the shelter that we had dinner with last night. It was 8 when I began hiking.

Had some amazing views this morning! They just keep getting better and better. The moons still visible in the upper right corner of the sky. I’m going to resupply for the next two and a half days at the Big Meadows wayside about 4.5 miles from camp.

Just before the Wayside I had another view from Blackrock viewpoint. There’s a large car camping area the AT boarders for a while. Lots of People are camping this weekend.

Big Meadows Wayside is the largest wayside in Shenandoah. The walk up to it is .4 miles off the trail. It’s got decent resupply options which is convenient. I charged my phone and relaxed for an hour before getting back on trail.

The trail after the Wayside was flat and cruzy. It’s turned out to be another beautiful day! Suns out and the high is 70!

I ended up eating a late lunch at the end of Bearfence Rock Scramble. There’s a nice view not too far off the AT. I enjoyed a wrap as dozens of day hikers passed by. There’s a parking lot near here and it’s a Saturday so what can I expect…

The next few miles went by pretty fast. Not many views or day hikers to slow me down. I took a short break at the spring next to Pocosin Cabin. The pipe is not flowing much but the water underneath is flowing well.

Not many clear views late this afternoon and crushed some miles. The trail has been so well maintained throughout the park. Most of it is compacted dirt and clear of large sharp rocks and roots.

I passed over Route 33 just before climbing 1200ft to the top of Hightop mountain. There’s a shelter on the other side I hope to camp at tonight.

The climb wasn’t that bad for how tall it was. When I got to the top there were a few tents setup and I was informed that a big group of boy scouts have taken over the shelter ahead and I be better off camping here. I walked around a bit and found a place that’s flat and free of rocks.

On the bright side I’m right next to the view! I’m kinda glad I camped up here because the sunset is going to be phenomenal! I quickly setup my tent and grabbed some water from the spring just down the trail. It’s amazing that there’s a flowing spring all the way up here. Crazy how that works.

I threw some layers on, grabbed my food and headlamp and headed over to the view. There’s a few people here waiting for the sunset also. One of which is Doc, a southbound thru hiker. No words could have described the sunset. It was on par with the sunrise on our way up to Katahdin.

I ended up hanging around for well over an hour. I ate dinner, snapped a bunch of pictures and waited for the sun to fully set. I may be able to see the comet once it’s dark enough.

While looking out I was able to see a strand of Starlink satellites fly across the sky. Doc had never heard of Starlink so I filled him in. A few minutes later I could see the faintest bit of white dust in the upper right of Venus. It slowly became clearer and clearer! It was the comet millions of miles away!!!

We were also able to faintly see the Milky Way! I had some good conversation with Doc while we pondered the sky.

What a night it has been. I’m so glad that I stayed up here and hung around the view. I went back to my tent around 8:45 and did my remaining camp chores – hang the bear line, blow up my sleeping pad and pillow, take off my shoes, brush my teeth and journal.