731.7 miles, 1,432,756 steps

… And we’re live after the break!

Two weeks at Virginia Tech were much needed and well enjoyed. Highlights include concocting homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches, devouring pancakes for an entire week, catching up with friends over lunch, checking on the progress of my colleagues in the TREC Lab, and, of course, fun and games. Laptop at my fingertips, I could update the look of the website and upload my hiker food spreadsheet, SnackPacker (see the new Resources page). The best part was having time set aside to enter into Holy Week and celebrate the Easter Octave.

Soon enough I set off into the woods again, but with a major change. After a month of deliberation, I switched my trail name to “Oatmeal”. Despite “Frassati” being perfect in every way, none but a handful have managed to remember or pronounce the Italian surname. I feel this new pseudonym still captures my personality while proving less confusing to my fellow hikers.

Even as I resume exploring new grounds, just barely crossing the 1/3-complete threshold, I met up with old friends this week. Sam, my buddy from high school, joined me for 41.8 miles. Two days after we parted ways, I entered a section known as the “Triple Crown” (named after three iconic mountains, and confusingly sharing a name with the feat of completing America’s three longest trails: AT, PCT, and CDT).

Finally, the journey has comfortably moved into Phase 3. The moderate spring climate makes keeping warm at night easy without the sun reaching scorching intensity in the afternoon. The next month or so will feature the most gently graded terrain of the entire walk. The trail straightens out, too, bearing Northeast with greatly reduced meandering. Amidst the convergence of positive factors, now is the time to pump out the highest rate of progress.

Day 50: Sunday, April 7

Pearisburg to Rice Field Shelter – 8.1 miles

Almost immediately, spring announced its residency. Just a few minutes after Sam and I departed from my friend Karl at the trailhead, we were met with white and purple wildflowers proliferating among a carpet of green. While the large deciduous trees still lack foliage, shorter flowering trees have early blossoms. The rocky summits are largely lifeless still, but the valleys are teeming with activity. Several new birds availed themselves.

I was quite glad to have Sam with me for company. Halfway through the day, it struck me how I was finally leaving Virginia Tech behind. For the first time, I had no plan for when I would return to Blacksburg. Even if I were to visit soon, the majority of my friends are graduating in just a month, about to embark on their own adventures. This visit was the final chapter in our shared story, the definitive end of an era in my life. Overcome with memories and longing, I nearly shed tears as I described this to Sam. However, the emotional surge soon dissipated, especially when I contemplated how the aspects of college life I most enjoyed will continue in working life. And old friends are never more than a phone call away, anyway.

Just before the shelter, we just barely crossed over into West Virginia. Unlike the tug-of-war between TN and NC, the AT quickly returned to Virginia and will remain so until Harper’s Ferry.

Day 51: Monday, April 8

Rice Field Shelter to Bailey Gap Shelter – 16.4 miles

Though I woke well past sunrise, the morning skies wove a fabulous sight. The overcast valley to the northeast was darkened as if by a smoky, ominous shroud. Over the ridge’s opposite slope, glorious rays pierced the clouds as in a dramatic landscape painting.

Today introduced me to the mode of hiking that will dominate most of Virginia, from what I’ve heard. Rather than continuously hurdling an endless string of hills and mountains, “ridge walking” has the traveler traversing several miles at stable elevation between ascent and descent. You may remember my description of similar topography in the marathon into Damascus. While many regard this style of trail as boring, I find each ridgeline sports a unique character. Some are smooth and easygoing, others studded with imposing boulders. At times the path flies straight as an arrow, at others it curves in a massive crescent. The intensity varies wildly.

The shelter began us at elevation, from which we finally dropped in the mid-afternoon. Resting our joints in the stone shelter, we conversed with Mouse. A retired farmer hailing from Iowa, I was captivated by his ardor for the beauty of rich, black dirt.

The last two miles to our final destination were downright brutal. The unrelenting incline was unlike any I’d seen but for a few exceptions. A turtle’s pace and two pauses were needed to accomplish the objective.

Day 52: Tuesday, April 9

Bailey Gap Shelter to Laurel Creek Shelter – 14.6 miles

Slightly shorter, length-wise and height-wise, than Monday. In the morning, Sam and I belted out our favorite tunes. Sometimes we joined as two parts of a melody, while other times we bounced back and forth, offering one line of a song with similar sentiment to the last.

The final stretch had us climb into and traverse though a cloud. We agreed to walk separately, desiring to fully take in the peaceful surroundings and knowing the shelter was at hand.

Day 53: Wednesday, April 10

Laurel Creek Shelter to Niday Shelter – 12.6 miles

After just an hour of hiking, we reached VA 42. This was the pickup spot we arranged with Tiernan (who often leaves animated comments on this blog) to take Sam back to Blacksburg. Lining the road and spreading throughout the valley were several farm plots. We spied three new species of birds darting around the tall grass, fence posts, and power lines. While my time with Sam passed so quickly, I am grateful for every minute we could share before Tiernan’s blue minivan rounded the bend. Plus, this may not be Sam’s last appearance on The Hiking Hokie…

As often as I crave the trail’s solitude, it brought me great joy to have a friend join me for a stretch. Should you be interested in meeting up, especially now that the temperatures are quite mild, please let me know! There’s lots of flexibility: meet me at a trailhead for an hour, come along for a simple day hike, or load up your gear and camp with me in the backcountry. It delights me to bring you along through the blog, but my camera fails to capture most of the splendor and majesty that only the eyes and soul can perceive and appreciate.

Day 54: Thursday, April 11

Niday Shelter to Four Pines Hostel – 16.8 miles

You may remember the washed-out bridge over Lick’s Creek in the previous update. Same deal at Craig’s Creek, although deeper and faster. Thankfully the flow didn’t rise above my knees (hikers a day behind me dealt with waist-high waters, many choosing to take the high-water bypass). Learning from the last shoe-soaked crossing, I changed into my camp flip-flops before stepping into the frigid waters. Drying out my feet with my small towel on the opposite bank, the rest of the day was far more comfortable due to a bit of critical thinking.

Despite progressively gloomier weather, my anticipation of a certain landmark grew throughout the afternoon. The path swept in a half-circle on the approach to Cove Mountain, soon after which is Dragon’s Tooth, the southern terminus of the Triple Crown. I whooped a “Yee-haw” once the stone monoliths emerged from the fog. Unfortunately, the gusts and rainfall produced unsafe conditions for scaling either “tooth”, but this hardly dampened my elation from arriving in familiar territory. I am also happy to announce that my newest rain jacket actually works, keeping me nice and dry!

With evening thunderstorms approaching, I took shelter at Four Pines Hostel. Situated on a farm, this three-car-garage had been renovated into a bunk house with kitchen and bathroom. Accommodations always get packed during bad weather, with nearly a dozen hikers spending the night with me. Many of the group had caught word of my SnackPacker spreadsheet. My demonstration of the tool produced reactions ranging from awe to heckling my over-engineered approach. In the evening, I designed a Google Sheets app for another hiker to help her keep pace and reach Katahdin by a certain deadline. While I didn’t stay for long to get the full experience, this hostel was everything I needed for a midweek refuge. It gets 4 out of 4… well… pines.

Day 55: Friday, April 12

Four Pines Hostel to Lamberts Meadow Shelter – 16.3 miles

Thought the heavy showers ran their course overnight, strange weather persisted. The wind was especially wild, a steady 12 mph but frequently changing direction. I witnessed the clouds drifting North, then South, then East, and finally the typical Northeast in the span of 10 hours.

In addition to the bizarre conditions, my direction of travel also cast the Triple Crown in a new light. Although I’ve ventured through the section on five separate occasions, this was my first time going northward. Major landmarks went by in reverse order. I had different angles at each viewpoint, surprising me with new details. Strenuous climbs became gentle descents, and vice-versa. Although this is well-trod ground for me, much about this occasion kept things fresh.

MacAfee’s Knob, the middle of the Triple Crown, is renowned along the whole trail. The summit presents an iconic rock ledge, resulting in the most photographed spot on the trail ubiquitously featured on end-of-trail postcards. In fact, I met Bill, a Ridge Runner who climbs MacAfee’s three times a week to serve as a photographer. On the northernmost point of the cliff which overlooks Roanoke, I honored my tradition of making a phone call to my mother at the spot.

Another quirk of MacAfee’s is the three shelters populating its slopes. The northernmost, Campbell Shelter, has been the overnight camping spot for most of my previous section hikes and stands a significant landmark in my personal history. I ate lunch at the site, recalling the spots I’d pitched my tent from my very first backcountry outing to my final training hike for this expedition. Like this longstanding structure did, my mind’s eye witnessed my site selection and pitching skills steadily improve each time.

Tinker Cliffs, the third and final peak of the Triple Crown, stands a mere six miles from MacAfee’s. But don’t let the small number fool you, Tinker is the steepest mountain. The approach is most rigorous from the South, the foremost reason is travelled the opposite direction each time before. But the summit is ample reward for the effort. The half-mile cliff walk yields, in my opinion, the best prospect of the Catawba region. The cliffs face the length of the valley. My eyes follow the ridges until they collapse to form the New River Valley. I imagine the very fingers of God brushing along the Earth’s crust toward the horizon, delicately carving the lines of peaks into the landscape.

After passing the junction with the Andy Layne Trail, I was back in new territory. When I pulled into Lambert’s Meadow, it was the fourth shelter I touched in a single day!

Day 56: Saturday, April 13

Lamberts Meadow Shelter to BeeCh Hill Hostel – 10.6 miles

Not much to remark about the march into Daleville. Carvin’s Cove glittered off to the right until the path veered off the ridgeline. Approaching Highway 220, I purchased a refreshing pink lemonade from the Exxon. Reaching the BeeCh Hill hostel at 1:00 PM gave me plenty of time to meet the others staying there, especially “Hard Left” and “Chew Toy”. The hostel owner gave us a ride into town, where we hit up the local barbecue joint, Three Pigs. In honor of accomplishing the 1/3-way point, I ordered their Three Cheese 1/3-pound burger. The service was excellent, and so was the complimentary (for through-hikers) banana pudding. My rating is 3 out of 3 pigs.

Day 57: Sunday, April 14

BeeCh Hill Hostel

After mass, I made a point to spend extra time in front of the tabernacle. The churches each Sunday are what I look forward to the most each week. The voice that whispers quietly to me in the breeze or in the still of night becomes loudest here, before the Blessed Sacrament. Each visit to the altar is a simultaneous welcoming from the weary road and a sending forth into the next week’s wilderness. The source and summit of my journey.

Back at BeeCh Hill, I bumped into the friend I’d made all the way back in Week 1, Pyro! Over lunch we recounted our best stories. He knew for certain that most of our other mutual acquaintances were still on-trail, though one quit for-sure. There’s a stash of board games here, so I challenged him and Chew Toy to a game of Catan in the evening. Looking forward to hiking with him in the days to come!

Pebbles

New birds: Red-winged Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, Tufted Titmouse, and Northern Mockingbird

Songs in my Head: “Jamming” by Bob Marley, “Send Me On My Way” by Rusted Root, “True or False” by Chuck Loeb, and “Marvin’s Medley” by André Ward

I find love is making music with my friends,

Maxwell “Oatmeal” Stelmack