5/11: Ridge near Bastian to Streambed by Jenny Knob

• 

• 

• 

• Miles 588.8-604.7 (15.9 mi.)
• Total ascent 3940’; descent 4675’

Today, I write to ignore my toy: a small chimney I built in the dry streambed where we’re camping tonight. It burns wood so quickly and hotly as to be dangerous the use, even on rocky ground.

The rocks here are reddish-brown with iron, and surrounded by the sort of pebbles that love to get in Crocs. Our tent is situated in a spot with enough dirt veneer to be sleepable, though the stakes must be propped with rocks rather than driven into the ground. On both sides of the streambed are hillsides so steep one would need to zig-zag to climb them, populated by mostly white pine and maple trees. 

In valleys like this, the vegetation has decided it’s already summer. It’s as if the plants are staking out different shades of green: the mosses claim chartreuse to light green. The club moss is just yellow of emerald. The pines err on the blue side. The rhododendron rocks a deep forest green. 

I love valley hikes, which the thrill-seekers and peak-baggers avoid. Unless I only have a day or two out, in which case I do understand chasing the spectacular, I make sure there’s a river hike in our plans. 

Sadly, we aren’t camping near water tonight. If there were any chance of rain, we wouldn’t be camping here period because our site is just asking for flash flooding. 

It’s not a great site, but it’s the right distance from our next resupply. Carrying only one day’s worth of food today was wonderfully easy. We’re willing to pay more for food to weigh less and save time. Where we are in Virginia, there are enough hostels and convenience stores, all of which stock the hiker staples, to keep our loaded weight below 25 pounds each. 

With our light packs and relatively flat terrain, we finished a long (for us) day by 4 p.m. and spent less time catering to our aches and pains. 

Virginia is absolutely spoiling us. We joke it’s no wonder the colonists chose this place. 

The only negative of today, in my mind, has been wondering when I will next have the phone battery, data allotment, and signal to type (I write first in a journal, both out of preference and to conserve battery) and post these blogs. But I’ve done the most important part of capturing myself in the moment, and I have no control over when I reach that trifecta of resources. 

It feels good to accept. It feels like the trail is working.