McAfee Hikes

Date Written: 12/10/2024 | AT Mile 2139.0 | Day Total: 11.0 miles | Gain: 3950 ft

Slept well last night. It was nice to have a laidback evening with others. Breakfast was set for 8:15 and shuttle for 9. I packed up may backpack and set it outside before I went over to the common room for breakfast. Donna made French toast and bacon! She added a touch of brown sugar which was really good! “Slip and Slide”, Franks, and Nimrod talked over breakfast. The conversation was guided by Nimrod. You could spend hours talking with him.

At 9 Bill drove me back to Dick’s Creek Gap. But first I signed the garage and got a picture with the green dragon wings. The hostel is Lord of the Rings themed. They are also doing some short video interviews picking the brains of thru hikers. We made a short one on our drive back to the trailhead.

Even though it’s sunny with blue skies we’ve got some rain coming this afternoon and through the night. I’m wearing shorts for the first time in a few weeks. Today’s high was 58.

I began hiking and after a few steps I noticed a soft spot in the toe of my shoe. I thought maybe the insert had buckled but when I took it off a furry brown caterpillar was in there! I just hope it doesn’t cause my skin to get irritated.

I don’t plan on going far today. Part of me hopes I can get the the shelter 11 miles away before it rains but that probably won’t happen. I had a 2000ft climb out of the gate to Kelly Knob. I’ve got like 12+ pounds of food for a little over 4 days. I usually only have 2lbs a day so my pack is super heavy. It was intentional. I wanted to eat well the last few days I’m out here.

After Kelly’s knob I had a few bumps along the ridge before climbing up to Tray Mountain Shelter. I passed through a gap called Swag of the Blue Ridge.

When I reached the Swag of the Blue Ridge it began to rain. I decided to zip my rain coat over my backpack to keep it from wetting out for the last 2 miles to the shelter. It’s too hot to wear my jacket – I’d just sweat it out.

I eventually made it I the side trail to the shelter. My shirt was soaking wet but I’ll just wring it out and wear it until it dries. Once I made it to the shelter .2 miles away that’s exactly what I did. It’s just before 2pm so I have a lot of down time. I cleaned the shelter (swept it) and made myself comfortable.

Because it was raining I didn’t want to walk down to the spring. I decided to put my cup to collect water from the roof. Worked quite well. It was pouring so it filled quite fast.

I downloaded the first few episodes of Breaking Bad for entertainment guessing that I would have some downtime these last few days. Got an intermittent bar of service so I can load some things. Nathan and Cole want to give me a call. I guess they’ve tried a few times but my service has been turned off. They called at 10pm last night but I was in bed by then…

I watched some Breaking Bad and ate some of the plethora of food I have packed out. Made some dinner and gave Nathan and Cole a call. They are doing well, I’ll probably visit shortly after I get back. They’ll be studying for finals so it’ll be a quick trip.

After the call I journaled. It was getting dark and somebody left a small candle so I tried to lite it. It only lasted a second because the wick was gone. I grabbed one of compressed towels and cut a wick for it. After a few tries it burned the rest of the wax while I journaled and watched another episode of Breaking Bad.

After I finish the journal I’ll watch another episode and head to bed. I’ll be able to recharge my phone at Neels Gap so I don’t have to use my battery to sparingly.