McAfee Knob Dawn and Dragon’s Tooth

Wednesday June 3, 2026

I get up early, but there’s not much light, to walk in the dark and watch the sunrise at McAfee Knob. I walk overtime, but stop for some treats and a midday break.

Walk from early to late at night

METROMy punctuality anxiety consisted of working overtime into the night. I had several dreams where I was late, couldn’t find things that should go in my backpack, was given things at the last minute that didn’t fit in my backpack, and even lost my backpack entirely. At one point in the night I checked my phone and saw that it was around 2:30 a.m. I felt like I hadn’t slept a minute. Someone’s alarm went off at 4:15am and I decided to stay in bed for 15 minutes and then get up to give myself enough time to pack my bags.
My alarm woke me up at 4:45 am and I hurried to pack everything up. I missed the 5am deadline by a few minutes, but I wasn’t far behind the pack. This was the first time I did an official hike in the dark with the use of a headlamp. I have to say that mid-range backpacking headlamps are an important piece of equipment. I could see well with the lowest light level, while the second level left the trail as clear as day. I could look up the side of McAfee Knob and see other lighthouses cutting through the switchbacks not far away. The 0.8 mile, 900 foot climb was overcome in no time. The night walk turned out to be easy and quite a novelty. I’ll have to find a way to get more done without needing to wake up at odd hours of the day.

Sunrise

I dropped off my backpack and joined the group around 5:30 a.m. The sky was already lit up with a full spectrum of color. The silhouettes of the group of hikers perched on the rocky cliff with the illuminated horizon background were an incredible sight to behold. I wasn’t the only one whose brain was spinning last night. Y2K announced that they had a plan to allow everyone to take lots of photos at sunrise.
Nobly took on the role of photographer and asked everyone to line up their phones next to him. He would be perched at the right angle to take pictures of everyone on what appeared to be a rock hanging precariously over the valley. He took about two dozen phone photos of everyone while giving them posing instructions just like a professional photographer would. We all got amazing photos. We all kindly thanked him for handling the situation beautifully. It’s a great feeling to meet someone along the way who isn’t shy about talking about their plans and generally organizing group activities. Had he not mentioned to me yesterday afternoon his intention to hike until dawn, I may have simply continued with my planned hike to the next shelter.
We took a few photos as a group and then most left to head back to camp. I continued my walk towards Dragon’s Tooth.

Just before dawn at McAfee Knob.

See You Tomorrow monitors the sunrise from McAfee Knob.

See You Tomorrow is located on the edge of McAfee Knob. Mom, I have a safety harness on, don’t worry.

Dawn of McAfee Command.

The view of Catawba Valley from McAfee Knob.

The entire group poses on the ledge. It’s crazy that everyone brought a harness, safety first!

A telephone line.

Y2K handled taking sunrise photos like a pro.

Deer also like beautiful views

I set out on a 3 mile descent to the McAfee Knob trailhead. The trail wound around huge chunks of rock about 12 feet high and 20 feet wide. Mountain laurel covered the rest of the forest floor that didn’t have the Appalachian Trail carved through it. I came across a couple of deer grazing in the mountain laurels about 10 feet from the trail. They looked at me but didn’t react much. I spent a minute or two admiring the grace with which they walked through the bushes while occasionally munching on leaves.

Huge rocks just south of McAfee Knob.

Deer were becoming more common on the trails.

A couple of deer on the way to McAfee Knob.

Catawba Grocery Store

My indulgence on Monday seemed to distend my stomach. I was hungry early and faced a change of plans that added 3 miles to make today a 25 mile day. At least I had an early start. Anyway, I felt like I needed more than just a snack to get through the day. I knew the Catawba grocer was approaching within about the tenth mile of my day. I stopped by for a half-kilo bag of pretzels, 2 oatmeal raisin cookies, and a large soda. A pound of pretzels would give me enough to pack once I was done snacking. My stomach was grateful, my wallet not so much.
I could have eaten a pint of ice cream, but the freezer only had one flavor: birthday cake. It’s really not a flavor that stands out to me after walking for six hours.

The best food for hikers was available at the Catawba grocery store. I bought these instead.

dragon tooth

Fueled by 140 grams of sugar and enough caffeine to sedate a Starbucks employee, I made my way down the path to Dragon’s Tooth with renewed vigor. I had been warned that the path was steep and rocky. A sign next to the trail confirms this. There were some tricky sections that required some climbing and mountain goats, but they didn’t last too long. Sometimes it is easier to go up these sections than to go down. We’ll see tomorrow.
After getting lost among the various trails near Dragon’s Tooth, I arrived at the obelisk-like formation. Friendly hikers took my photo while I was climbing the rock. With my Triple Crown of Virginia completed, it was time to continue hiking.

It’s about to get difficult.

The view from Dragon’s Tooth.

See you tomorrow sits on Dragon’s Tooth and admires the Catawba Valley.

Reviewing the plan at Brush Mountain

I was glad I stopped by the Catawba store to buy soda, as there wasn’t much water for the next few miles. I finally found an almost dry stream that had just enough trickle to fill my water bag. It’s amazing that such a small stream of water can satisfy my need for hydration here on the trail.
I had one big climb left for today, about 1,600 feet up Brush Mountain. I was still moving fine except I could feel a little twinge in my foot. You’re supposed to wear new shoes and allow time for your feet to acclimate. I was moving more than 20 miles a day. I guess that’s enough.
My original plan was to hike from Johns Spring Shelter to Route 621, about 22 miles. My change of plans yesterday meant I was about 3.5 miles farther than I had planned. I checked FarOut and found there was a campground about a mile closer. That was helpful until he gave me another idea.
Tomorrow I might follow my plan and stop at the Johns Creek Shelter, but I had heard mixed reviews about the water availability there. If I had the stamina, today I could hike an extra 2 miles round trip to Route 621 and back to the campground. I’d save two miles tomorrow. That would give me a little time to sleep and make another stop at the Catawba store. Even tomorrow I could stretch the kilometers again and return to the Pig Farm campsite. I knew there was good water there and the next day I would take an easy 17 mile hike back to Daleville. There would even be time to celebrate with a trip to the supermarket to buy junk food.

Busy night

Towards the end of Brush Mountain is the Audie Murphy monument. The monument reports that Audie was the most decorated veteran of World War II. He died in a plane crash near the monument site.
Along the trail I arrived at the campsite where I planned to stay. It was empty and it was already after 7:00 pm I thought I would have the whole place to myself. I was happy to have a quiet night. The day passed pleasantly.
While I was setting up my tent two hikers appeared and told me more were coming. They had all been enjoying the magic of the trail on Route 621. The hikers were confident that the magic of the trail would still be there if I hurried the mile to the highway, which I conveniently was planning to do anyway.

The Audie Murphy monument.

craig brook

With my tent set up, I fled down the trail hoping to catch a little trail magic. It felt uncomfortable to be doing kilometers without any type of backpack on your back. What really threw me off was the lack of trekking poles. He had come to trust them for balance and safety. The trail was mostly flat until I reached Craig Creek. The bridge crossing the creek had been washed away and hikers were instructed to ford it. I looked for a path to cross but I couldn’t see any clear one. It looked like I could cross downstream so I went in that direction.
There was only one sketchy island with difficult rocks, but I thought it might be doable. I had seen a comment about FarOut’s reference orange flags and had seen one in this direction on the opposite side of the creek. I was eager to get a magical hot dog on the trail, so I threw caution to the wind and started across. The crossing was treacherous. I was balancing with half my foot on a wet rock trying to reach the island which turned out to be little more than grass covered rocks. I kept my balance and made it across, but I knew I would need to find a better way back. I found orange flags along the way. They led to a much better junction that would have been out of sight of southbound hikers. It wasn’t my best display of patience or common sense.

Full house

I reached Route 621 and discovered that I had missed the magical trail by a few minutes. It was a shame, but I was honestly very satisfied after my trip to the Catawba grocery store. I returned to camp with six more tents set up. Two of the hikers looked familiar; Crash and his walking companion Lost and found. Crash was all smiles, trail meets are a wonderful thing!
Today turned into a long day of walking. I started with the 0.8 mile overnight hike to McAfee Knob, although this mileage is excluded from my daily total since I had already hiked this section heading south yesterday. I also walked about a half mile more to the Catawba grocery store. This means I walked over 27 miles total today. I guess I’ll sleep in tomorrow morning.

-See you tomorrow

Total: 25.9 miles, 64,236 steps

• Hiking type: backpacking
• Camp: Tent, MM 691.0

Note: The mileage reported above includes only miles on the AT for one southbound and one northbound hike. Excludes miles completed on Spur Trails or miles on the AT that you complete more than twice.

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