Jefferson National Forest

The hike out from Pearisburg goes into the Jefferson National Forest, a beautiful and remote area along the Virginia/West Virginia border. There's a lot on long ridge walks punctuated by steep, U-shaped valleys. Some parts of the At are smooth and well-designed, while others are really rough. Many of the ridges are composed of broken rock granite spines that make hiking tedious at best. And these Roanoke ATC maintainers need to learn how to build a switchback :) My body has the scars and aches to prove it.

The weather after the first day was chilly and wet--highs only around 40º on the ridges. But by Wednesday the sun was out and temps were at least 20º higher. Water sources remain a problem in the south. Many days hiking were determined by available water, sometimes over 10 miles between.

This Is Why We Hike

Started out from Pearisburg VA on Sun 10/2 on a chilly afternoon. There had been snow flurries the previous night, but as you can see from this view the weather cleared beautifully. The first climb of 1800' didn't seem too bad (thank God) and the reward was a gorgeous 12-13 mile ridge walk along the Peters Mountain Wilderness.

It's that time again...

Hello friends,
Fall is in the air and that could mean only one thing--time to do some hiking. I've been training for the past month plus, getting ready for another Appalachian Trail adventure. Had to miss last year--2010--due to some personal issues, but I'm rearin' to go in 2011. Please stay tuned for further updates and news from the Trail. My EDT is next Sunday, Oct 02.

Young Buck near Grayson Highlands

This young buck living in the protected areas of Mt Rodgers/Grayson Highlands obviously was not very frightened by our human presence. We saw many deer during our hike but most were quite shy (wisely so).

Mt Rodgers Nat'l Park

The weather finally cleared but turned windy and cold when we reached Mt. Rodgers (5782') State Park. Most of the area is high balds with great visibility on a day like this. By night though, the temps at Thomas Knob Shelter dropped to 30º with winds howling at 35 mph or better. Brrr...

On Thursday we finally left Tennessee and crossed into Virginia here at the Mt Rodgers State Rec Area sign. Another state down. Yeah! But VA has the most AT mileage of any state, so I'll be here a while. On to Damascus!

Reaching the 400 mile mark

On Saturday, we passed the 400 mile mark on the AT just before Laurel Fork. This of course, is my cumulative mileage picking up from last year at Erwin, TN. Another nice feature of the day was the sunshine. Yay!