Goodbye Triple Crown, Hello Blue Ridge!

Russell and Jessie conclude the Virginia Triple Crown segment and head up The Blue Ridge Parkway after a quick resupply.

June 8-10, 2026

After not getting the best sleep yet again, we were a bit grumpy to wake up to find that the Triple Crown area had fogged up. There wouldn’t be much of a view from Tinker Cliffs. However, we were filled with a feeling of gratitude for dedicating the amount of time we did to McAfee.

For reference, here’s me watching from McAfee the day before.

We were happy to leave the Triple Crown behind. The features were amazing, but there was something about the section that was disturbingly difficult. It’s probably the hardest test we’ve felt since The Smoky Mountains. Now we’re on to bigger and better climbs.

We picked up a minor resupply in Catawba because we knew we would arrive in Daleville just two days later. Even with such a short period between stops in town, Daleville was a very welcome sight.

Jessie with her new Keen boots.

The town had just about everything you could want, all within a mile of the trail. They had a great supplier who was able to get Jessie some new shoes. The Hokas were a big improvement for his feet, but we still needed something even tougher.

He opted to get the most ankle-protecting, arch-supporting, hard-rubber, waterproof boots he could find. He eventually returned to Keens. Jessie had worn Keen boots almost her entire life, and we thought that instead of playing with all these fancy trends and rumors, we should stick with what she knows.

We had also been left without a stove since we left Marion and were feeling very regretful about our decision. The big noro episode had Jessie giving up tuna packets, summer sausage, pepperoni, and hot, sweaty cheese the rest of the way.

Almost everything we no longer wanted to eat in a tortilla. Looks appetizing, huh?

This eliminated most of the stable food we could buy, so we also had to buy a new MSR Pocket Rocket. Frankly, I was very excited to eat more hot food every night.

The lady inside the store was incredibly helpful and I would recommend this place to anyone passing through Daleville, Virginia. Another benefit of this location is that it is right across from Bojangles.

Once we put our shoes away, we ran across the street, stuffed our faces with fried chicken, and sat for a while to charge our batteries and phones. The fast food employees seemed very calm to see us sitting in their restaurant for about three hours.

Sal and Jessie walk into Kroger with their backpacks.

Next is the part everyone fears. We had to restock at Kroger. Jessie and I were looking forward to this, since Kroger is one of the only grocery stores we recognize, but we weren’t particularly excited about how expensive everything was.

Even after buying all the store brand stuff and passing up some fancy snacks, we ended up paying over $120 for four days of shopping. It seems that the further north you go, the more expensive this little adventure becomes.

We were sad to say goodbye to Daleville, but we had spent enough money and a hotel was out of the question. Instead, we opted to sleep right next to the highway and listen to the relaxing sounds of the trucks passing by all night. Surprisingly, it was one of the best nights of sleep I had had all week.

Just after Daleville, the trail parallels the Blue Ridge Parkway, and it was one big climb after another. The initial climb wasn’t too terrible and the sky was perfectly clear, which made us think that a rumored storm was exactly that, a rumor.

The sign that tells us that we are officially 1/3 of the way.

I was able to try out the new stove and have a hot coffee in a shelter while I waited for Jessie and Sal to catch up. We met some nice new people named Crybaby, Chew Toy, ET, and Queso. It felt hard to get up and continue walking after such a nice rest, however, we noticed that the sky was getting a little darker.

It didn’t give us much warning before thunder and lightning started blaring every few seconds and a quarter of an inch of rain fell on us in 30 minutes. I had just enough time to put on my backpack cover, but I didn’t have a chance to put on rain gear before I got soaked.

It was such a bad storm that I honestly don’t think rain gear would have been of any use anyway. Jessie is also deathly afraid of lightning, so it wasn’t a particularly pleasant walk to the next shelter to wait out the storm.

At least the rain brought out the Salamanders.

Finally, upon arriving at the shelter, everyone had the same idea. We packed under the roof like sardines, all trying to pack our lunches and not mix up our belongings. An hour later, the sky had completely cleared, leaving no evidence of the evil that had just been unleashed upon us earlier.

Jessie looks out over West Virginia as the sun sets.

Our first viewpoint on the Blue Ridge Parkway, photo credit to Sal.

Not much further, we had reached the Blue Ridge Parkway. The viewpoints were pretty incredible and the recent rain left everything looking bright and beautiful. We decided to camp stealthily in the forest, passing a viewpoint. After setting up and hanging our clothes to dry, we cooked dinner in the parking lot and got a couple of strange looks while we did so.

View from the viewpoint where we camped.

It was a quite beautiful sunset that completely made up for the aggressive storm the day before. These mountains sure can be moody.

The sunset in West Virginia.

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