Yesterday our plans to climb Dragon’s Tooth were ruined by rain. But today the weather is clear! Take two for Dragon’s Tooth!
700 miles!
Dreamcatcher, Dutch Dragon, Doohickey, Me, PK
After a few miles, we reached the 700 mile marker! That’s amazing. Spirits are high! Staying at the hostel helped with everyone’s mood. Or, well… almost everyone…
The first of Virginia’s Triple Crown
Dragon’s Tooth is a huge stone basilisk. The brave can climb it and stand on it. I’m not immune to vertigo, but I’ll see how far I can go. I tried, but I’m not going to make it to the top. This is enough!
Doohickey has no fear
The fight down
After a nice little break, we head back down. This is where the incomplete rock revolt began. Looking at it, I’m really glad I didn’t do it yesterday, when it was all wet.
He stopped dead
Remember when I said almost everyone was in a good mood? Yes, the exception is Fernando. When we got back down to a road, he was lying on the ground, feet in the air. His feet hurt to the point that he can no longer walk.
He will return to Huckleberry’s house to recover. Man…that’s a bummer. I really hope he recovers quickly and catches up with us. We took some time to review the planning. Some of us really need to go to a provider. The first is in Daleville. If we continue as planned, we will be there on Sunday. The only day it is closed.
Since Huck is picking up Ferdinand anyway, maybe he can transport us to Daleville today, so we can shop and not have to worry about it. We called and they came over. They are on their way immediately. Huckleberry and his team really go the extra mile. I love those guys.
My dad and Doohickey will continue walking as planned to the shelter just before McAfee Knob. Ferdinand, PK, Dreamcatcher and I will go to the supplier.
Shiny new equipment
I needed new trekking pole tips. They have been completely worn out. Dreamcatcher and PK needed new shoes and Ferdinand has so many holes in his shirt that he barely wears anything anymore.
That’s when I noticed an interesting backpack on the wall. It’s a new 50 liter Exped Lightning. Right now I have the old 60 liter version. Good pack, but it had some design flaws. They have solved everything that bothered me with the new pack! More comfortable straps, integrated exterior pocket, more compact straps.
And anyway my backpack is too big for my stuff. I always roll it all the way down, but that affects the center of the weight a little. 50 liters might be the way to go.
I put my gear in the new backpack and tried it on…and it’s amazing. It fits me so well it’s like I’m carrying 10 pounds less. I can fly with this thing! I can’t resist, this will make my life on the road so much easier.
my new baby
The best of plans.
Now that we have our stuff, we have to decide what to do. My dad and Doohickey are 8 miles ahead and it’s already night. The plan is to see the sunrise at McAfee Knob, so we will have to be there at 5:30 am. There’s a fun thing we could do…
Here’s the recap: We go back to Huckleberry’s with Ferdinand and finally watch Tombstone together. After that it will be around 9-10pm and we will return to the trailhead and take an evening hike to the shelter. Take a one-hour nap and walk together to McAfee Knob.
Magical night walk
We followed the plan to the letter. We watched the film together and said goodbye, hopefully temporarily, to Ferdinand. Just as Sam left us, we gave him a big hug and began our evening walk. We walked to a meadow and saw all the stars, including the shooting ones. The forest was lit up like a Christmas tree by all the fireflies. What a magical place to be at this time of day.
This helped, thanks PK.
The photos don’t do it justice.
They scared me so much
In addition to the beautiful scenery, we also shared wonderful conversations and thoughts. Here you bond much faster than in «normal» life. I really appreciate and care about these people, even though we’ve only been walking for a couple of weeks. There’s a reason they call it trail family and not just trail friends.
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