Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.
~Winston Churchill
September 2, 2021
Hike from Marion, VA (Rt 16) to Hurricane Mountain Shelter
AT miles: 19.2
Ascent: 3476’
Descent: 2490’
Weather: sunny and low 70’s
Sightings: 18 hikers (2 of whom were women)
High point: Reaching our destination!
My hiking partner Karen and I are heading off for a 4-day 63-mile section hike from Marion, Virginia, to Damascus. Today we hiked nearly 20 miles with four days of food in our backpacks! We hiked Iron Mountain (3842’) and went about halfway up Hurricane Mountain (4446’).
We met in Damascus at Lady Di’s Hostel, a super-clean and well-organized and very friendly establishment. We left our cars parked on the street and grabbed a shuttle to the start of this section, about a 40 minute drive.
The hiking was mostly pretty easy, and the trail was pretty, with lots of greenery, interesting mushrooms, and peace. Hurricane Ida came through this area yesterday, so we did come across some fallen trees that we think were a result of Ida.
This view of Rue Valley was our one and only view of the day.
We walked through a cow pasture with the most amazing purple flowers! They were as tall as I am!
This mushroom was one of the biggest I have ever seen. I included my foot in the picture to provide a size comparison.
We would have preferred a shorter day, but there were no shelters or tent sites at a reasonable distance, so we did a long day. This waterfall provided a welcome rest stop.
In our last mile we climbed over 1000 feet. That was a tough ending to our long hike! (and tomorrow morning we will start the day by hiking up about another thousand feet to the top of Hurricane Mountain!) But Hurricane Mountain Shelter was lovely — new, clean, and spacious. We had a great conversation with a man named Rich who is section hiking the AT.
And during the night we were surprised both by coyotes howling and acorns loudly dropping onto the tin roof of the shelter!
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!