“I’ve realized that at the top of the mountain, there’s another mountain.”
~ Andrew Garfield
April 19, 2022
AT miles: 7.0
Ascent: 2233’
Descent: 544’
Weather: Cold and windy
Sightings: 2 hikers
High points: Wildflowers!
After a quick early morning drive from Williamsburg to the McAfee Knob parking lot, my hiking partner and I took a shuttle down to the Pearis Cemetery in Pearisburg. We are hoping to do the 73.3 miles from Pearisburg to the parking area near McAfee Knob over the next five days.
Almost immediately after leaving our shuttle we descended to the New River and crossed over it. Then we had a rapid ascent up from the river. The view over the river was wonderful.
The woods were mostly brown and wintery.
After a quick climb we reached a seriously remote farm and a nice flat dirt road. Occasionally the Appalachian Trail is flat and easy for a short bit!
The trail resumed its rapid climb. Since Rice Field Shelter does not have a water source adjacent to it we needed to find some water before we arrived at it. We hiked to the spot where there was theoretically a piped spring, and I couldn’t find it. The pipe was literally on the path — I felt embarrassed to have missed such an obvious source of water!
Our shelter is WAY high up on Peters Mountain, and it has stunning views.
Over the course of the evening lots of thruhikers piled into the shelter. The temperature is supposed to drop below freezing overnight, so more people means more body heat to help keep us all warmer!
One young woman had the trail name Marathon. She is a marathon runner who is racking up seriously high mileage on the AT. To celebrate the Boston Marathon on April 19 she hiked 26.2 miles! Two brothers from Holland stopped their 2020 thruhike because of Covid and are now working on completing it.
We saw both a great sunset and sunrise from this shelter.
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!