Doing the Chestnut Challenge (Day 48)

We were woken up by a bird that sets off the car alarm at 5:30. I didn’t mind, but Ferdinand was definitely not happy about it.

New secondary mission acquired

We have a new little side quest today. We saw a Garmin Inreach lying in the campfire ring. It’s Trombone! He’s a few days ahead. When we have reception, we will text you to make a plan to return it to you.

The trail was exceptionally maintained today! The bushes along the trail were very neatly trimmed. No overgrown trails today! Thanks maintainers!

Shelter bowling?

I think Ferdinand is going wild…the shelter where we had lunch had an open bag of skittles tied to a rope. There’s no way I’m eating that. I don’t know how long it’s been there or if there have been mice there. But not everyone has those objections. Fernando simply grabbed the bag and ate it. I guess it’s helping keep them away from the bears.

A trail delicacy, I guess.

Who said Virginia is flat?

All day we have been going up and down mountains. Virginia has not been flat today at all! And the biggest mountain is always at the end of the day: Chestnut Knob.

Chestnut Challenge

Today’s goal is to sleep at the Chestnut Knob shelter, at the top of the mountain. When we looked at the shelter on the FarOut app, we saw people commenting times for “The Chestnut Challenge.” Okay, call me intrigued!

The challenge is to walk from the road to the shelter as fast as you can. It’s 4.6 miles of steep climbing. The only problem we have is that we need to filter the water 2 miles from the pond and take extra water to the top since there are no good water sources anywhere else.

We’re gone! I quickly passed Ferdinand and my dad who left before me. I’m climbing this mountain as fast as I can. Out of breath, I reached the water source. This really isn’t cool. It’s a small stagnant puddle. This will take some time to figure out.

stagnant pool

After filtering and filling up, I pushed on for a few more miles. I completed it! 4.6 miles in 1:33:46. That’s an average of 3 miles per hour, not too bad!

Neither does this place! This shelter is cute! Four stone walls and a door. That’s luxury! Plus a great view from the picnic table. We all settle in. It feels like summer camp here.

I’m glad we didn’t wait longer to move. It started to rain hard! This could be the heaviest rain you’ve ever seen or heard. Luckily we are dry and comfortable in our little shelter.

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