Nothing so rare as a day in June,
the air so fine and the blossoms all blue.
~Danielle Owens
June 27, 2019
Hike from Daleville to Bearwallow Gap (Buchanan, VA)
AT miles: 21.6
Ascent: 4119’
Descent: 3112’
Weather: hot and hazy
Sightings: a box turtle, a deer, and a chipmunk
High points: Talking with lots of hikers and successfully hiking over 20 miles with a loaded backpack
Since I had a long hike ahead of me, I was on trail at 6:45 a.m.
For the first several miles the trail meandered through Daleville and Troutville on a narrow wooded corridor.
I passed under I-81 and saw a white blaze on one of the cement supports. You never know where one of those white blazes will appear!
The trail passed through some lovely farm country. The meadows provided great views!
I then had a steady steep climb up to Fullhardt Knob, which unfortunately had no views. A kilt-wearing thruhiker passed me, and I spent the next two miles following him from a distance. He set a good pace, and I definitely walked faster because I was following him!
After a bit I bumped into a woman hiker in her 50’s. Upper-middle-aged woman hikers are unusual enough that we stopped and chatted for about ten minutes. I had just set off again when a southbound dayhiker yelled my name! The hiker was a woman I had met during my adventures in Tennessee in early April! We stopped and talked for another ten minutes or so. What a social morning!
Virginia has had a very dry spring this year, so often the springs and creeks where you are supposed to be able to refill your water are actually dry. I have been routinely hiking with over 2 L of water, which seems excessive (water is really heavy!) until you talk to people who have run out of water and then you decide that the extra weight is worth it!
I came around a corner on the trail and found a lovely stream and the kilt-wearing hiker, who had only had half a liter of water since yesterday afternoon. His family is from Kings Mountain, South Carolina, where they have owned land since before the Revolutionary War! His roots are deeply entrenched in the mountains there, and the persistent lack of water is making him wonder if he should just quit the trail and return home to his family.
In this section the trail was fairly easy and really pretty.
About fifteen miles from Daleville the AT met up with the Blue Ridge Parkway, and for the rest of the day the trail ran alongside the Parkway, either above, below, or next to it.
The trail was mostly open and sunny.
I had lots of great views.
During this section I played leapfrog with several people: two section hikers; an older gentleman who started in Georgia but insisted that he would be a section hiker until he summited Katadin; and a thruhiker named “No Sun” who wore along-sleeved shirt and a huge floppy floral hat.
On the AT I’ve come across numerous deer, some of which have scared me silly as they crashed through the forest, but this one was absolutely fearless and allowed me to get quite close.
The views on this section of the trail were exceptional.
And then I descended down into Bearwallow Gap and found both Rt 43 and a thruhiker named “Papa Canuck”, whom I had met at the hotel in Daleville.
After this long hike I was thankful to hop in my car, turn on the air-conditioning, and head home to my wonderful husband and a home-cooked meal!