5/16: Angel’s Rest Hiker Hostel to Site Past Rice Knob Shelter

• 

• 

• 

• Miles 636.1-645.6 (9.5 mi.)
• Total ascent 3251’; descent 1883’

It would be difficult if not outright impossible to construct an entirely off-road hiking trail from Georgia to Maine. But something I didn’t expect, and imagine many following my experience would not, is the amount of road travel involved. 

Usually, the trail crosses the road in a direct, perpendicular fashion. Because not all natural features are easy to cross, some crossings involve a jaunt a tenth or two of a mile on the road. Only when necessary, like an interstate that is illegal and dangerous to cross or walk, does the trail use a paved road. Today, we walked the road across Clendennin Creek, the largest waterway I have ever seen called a creek. I gather “creek” means different things in different areas of the country. 

Until the last mile or two today, there wasn’t much to see. Our goal was to get to the first campsite with potable water after Pearisburg. After we walked the bridge out of town, we passed a large industrial facility (a paper mill, I suspect), then a landfill, and then about twenty signs that merely said “Posted,” which seemed to be missing the key phrase “No Trespassing.”

What a reminder landfills are of the costs of how we live. The scale and the stench are massive. A BBQ grill looks so large on the curb, and so tiny among a mountain of trash. 

Even a small landfill serves thousands of households. Imagine the thousands of gallons of petroleum and pesticides and nail polish and pharmaceuticals draining into the water table (modern landfills are lined, but just ask people who live near coal ash fills how well those liners work). 

Long distance hikers, though a pretty small slice of the population, generate lots of trash. Everything we eat is packaged, sometimes in single servings. We cook in freezer bags, enabling us to pack out (i.e., throw away) the remains of our meals. Our alternative is to wash out and then drink or scatter the liquid. Scattering food attracts animals, including bears. Drinking the grey water risks spilling it on our clothes, making them interesting to animals (again, including bears). “When in doubt, pack it out” is to Leave No Trace as “Write about what you know” is to the writer’s workshop. 

Despite my grousing over the road-then-landfill hike, I did enjoy it.

Today, we saw the first mountain laurel flowers we have this trip, as well as plenty of early azalea blooms (both look like and belong to the rhododendron family, which probably explains why they flower together). We saw Cindy and Suzanne at camp, where they hit the hay early following today’s largely uphill hike, and deepened our relationship with Bambi and Blanc this morning. We suspect they stayed at the shelter a mile or so south of our campsite tonight. 

As it did today, despite only being forecast for only a few hours in the morning, it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow. The good news is, rains out here are rarely downpours. Unless it’s also cold and/or windy and/or stormy, we like getting sprinkled on as we hike. We find it difficult to stay cool carrying packs uphill, as we spend roughly half our miles doing. We also struggle to avoid sunburn, which isn’t much of a concern in the rain. 

I can appreciate and find interest in anything. I am here to accept, and I do.