Day 43 - Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Woke up to another mild morning; temperatures were in the low 50’s  and with clear skies. Highs are expected to hit upper 70’s today. 

Today we are hiking from VA 613, Mountain Lake Road (664.3 NoBo) to VA 635, Stony Creek Valley (657.0 NoBo) for a total of 7.3 miles. Tomorrow is forecasting for rain beginning in the early afternoon so we are going to do a 5 mile “Nero” in the am.  This is actually setting us up to do 15+ miler on Friday on a section that has been closed due to the ice storm that damaged high voltage power lines. 

We began hiking at 8:50 am. 














We were hiking along Stony Creek and crossing the footbridge to get to VA 635 when the Virginia Game and Inland Fisheries Department showed up with their trout stocking transport truck. 





One trout fell out of the net and Jim tried to put it in his pocket 🤭.



They were stocking with 9”-12” trout. 







One of our hiking buddies 😳.



The Bailey Gap Shelter. 




I’ll sign in on the shelter register every 3-4 shelters just to confirm and record our hike via shelter registration books. I haven’t met a thru-hiker who hasn’t refused free food. I carry extra protein bars for emergencies and sometimes give them to a hiker if we see one at the end of our hike. We passed a thru-hiker earlier this morning so I knew that he’d probably stop here to rest if for nothing else. I left him a little snack. 



Typical rocky trail. 





We met these two thru-hikers (noobs) on the trail just before we got to the end of our hike for the day. It was obvious they were not that seasoned of a hiker(s). They have been on the trail 2 days and were out of food. They were lingering at the trailhead and it was obvious they were looking for a ride. Even though we were going in the opposite direction we offered them a ride to the Mountain Lake Lodge Outfitters (5 miles away) so they could buy food. 

I asked them their trail names in which they said they haven’t picked one yet... I then told him how it’s customary if another thru-hiker ask you your trail name and you didn’t have one that the thru-hiker could give you your trail names. They said they didn’t know that LOL 😉. I told them that their trail names are  now “Samson & Delilah” and they could decide who’s who 🙄.  They laughed and said they like them. We dropped them off at the outfitters and gave them a couple bottles of water we had in the car. We did our good deed as Trail Angels today... just paying it forward 🙏🏻.

I forgot to mention, we finished hiking at 1:35 under sunny skies and the temperature was 76°.

The saying is “you are just one step from leaving the trail” and becoming one of the 80% who do not complete their thru-hike. Sometimes you have to watch each actual step in order to negotiate the trail without tripping, falling and/or injuring yourself. Your foot can slip. Your trekking pole can get slide on a rock, get stuck between rocks or get caught in the brush; the rock you choose to step on can be wet, loose, covered by mud. Just as you step, a gust of wind may catch you and blow you off balance forcing you to unexpectedly change your foot placement or your pack may shift. Or a combination of all... “You are just one step from leaving the trail” subconsciously preoccupies your mind on this walk in the woods. 

Till next time... Happy Hiking  🥾 

😋

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