McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 10/27/2024 | AT Mile 1434.8 | Day Total: 10.2 miles | Gain: 1543 ft

Wake up call at 7 this morning. Seth’s alarm rang on and on to an eerie tone. Had on most of my layers this morning. Last night the low was 34 degrees. I went over to the bearbox and retrieved our food. Doc, happy as ever, gave me a quick visit in search of food. He had a whole kielbasa link last night. Megan and Seth joined me for breakfast shortly later.

One layer pulled off we set off onto the trail. While not a far hike to the parking lot, we’re going to pass some more interesting parts of the trail. First up was a meadow, although it’s become pretty overgrown.

Not long after we walked underneath The Guillotine. A small (in comparison) bolder was wedged in between two large rocks. We snapped a few pictures and made it through unharmed.

A small climb later we were at the top of Apple Orchard Mountain. The elevation here is 4203 ft! There’s a large weather radar station at the top. It looks like a large soccer ball.

After an 800ft descent we took the side trail to Sunset Field parking lot (where Megan and Seth are ending their hike). I’ll be shuttling back with them and grab a bite to eat before being returned to trail.

I’ve never had so much trouble getting a ride before. Uber and Lyft both went “no drivers available” after waiting 15min for each. I then contacted 3 other shuttles and eventually made contact with one an hour later. It was 2hrs before we were picked up at 12:15. At least there was a good view.

The shuttle driver that picked us up is the caretaker of a hostel (Stanimal’s in Glasgow) and has been for a month. We talked a lot about trail for the 30 minutes back to James River footbridge where Megan’s car is.

We stopped back at the same Italian place I had been to a few days ago. There’s not many other options nearby. We sat down in a booth and I ordered a fried chicken salad.

Feed and ready to hit the trail again, Megan and Seth drove me back to the trailhead. We said our goodbyes. Seems like they enjoyed the little break away from classes. Either way I really enjoyed the company!

It was 3 in the afternoon when I began hiking again. I was moving quite slow because my stomach was a full and settling down from the twisty ride up the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I’m probably going to spend the night at a shelter 7 miles away. It’s the largest on the whole AT and capable of sleeping upwards of 20 people. I had a really nice view from Black Rock Overlook

I’m staring to see more and more evidence of fresh trail maintenance proceeding damage from hurricane Helene.

After a lot of descent I made it to Bryant Ridge Shelter. Nobody else here. The fire is still warm and smoking from last night (not a good thing). There’s a bunch of firewood next to it so I threw a few sticks on it to see if it would light up on its own.

I swept the first floor of the shelter and setup my sleep system. I glanced over to see my stick have caught fire. Looks like I’ll have a nice fire tonight. Thanks to those that left some wood here last night.

I cooked dinner on the picnic table next to the fire pit. This shelter is massive, a lot of thought went into the planning of it.

After doing some of the journal next to the fire and cleaning up after dinner I headed to the shelter for bed. It’s may go below freezing tonight. So I’m going to sleep with my contact case and water filter.