McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 11/01/2024 | AT Mile 1527.7 | Day Total: 9.1 miles | Gain: 2531 ft

Set an alarm this morning so I can get up and out. I retrieved my bear bag and cooked breakfast in the dark. I’ve got a little over 6 miles to Rocky Gap where my mom and dad are picking me up! It was just light enough outside when I began hiking to not need a headlamp.

Crossed over Sinking Creek first thing and continued for over a mile in and out of pastures. I slowly climbed up to Kelly Knob as a made my way through them. It was another cool morning with a little bit of cloud cover.

I climbed a bit more steeply after going through the pastures. There was a ton of Laurel caving around the trail. It was pretty neat. The shelter nearby was named Laurel Creek Shelter for a reason.

Once at the top the Laurel died down a bit and I had open forest once again. I decided to pass up Kelly’s Knob. I guess I was too excited to see my parents to take the side trail.

As I made my way down to Rocky Gap I saw two figures walking up towards me. It was mom and dad! Smiles shot up around all our faces! After a little hello we walked 100 yards to the car and made our way into Pearisburg. We’re going to stop at Angle’s Rest Hiker Haven (a hostel) so I can get a shower, laundry and have a place to work on some school stuff.

As we checked into the hostel my dad asked if it would be okay to use a propane pizza oven. The caretaker said of course. They didn’t tell me they luged the little pizza oven all this way!!!

We assembled a little crowd of hikers while my dad cooked up some pizzas! What a great idea!

There were two other thru hikers here along with two section hikers. The thru hikers were named Pegleg and Little Bit. After some fun conversation and cleanup we drove around the corner so I could grab some food for the next few days.

Once back at the hostel, I organized some food and worked on some school related stuff before our shuttle at 4:30.

After dropping our car off and shuttling back to Rocky Gap my parents and I hiked down 3 miles to the shelter. There were a few blowdowns in the area. To my surprise nobody else was in the shelter. It had just gotten dark when we arrived.

We decided to spend the night in the shelter. It was pretty clean and there was no evidence of mouse activity. Having cooked dinner I journaled and we all went to bed. We’re all tired, especially my parents after getting little sleep the previous night. It’s really nice to have some company, especially as I’m not seeing as many hikers anymore.