For a change I woke El Dorado up this morning, around 8:15 am, guess he needed the rest. The five miles up to Dragon’s Tooth were difficult and slow going, but we did cross the 700 mile marker.
The view from the tooth was amazing so we stopped for lunch and relaxed a bit.
Turnip took off before us and I didn’t see her again the rest of the day. El Dorado set a pace faster than I could keep up with so I agreed to meet him at a gas station off of Route 624 so that we could hit McAfee Knob together for sunset.
It wasn’t long before I came upon El D. again dragging himself up from the side of the trail. The descent from Dragon’s Tooth is nearly vertical rock scrambles and he’d dropped his water bottle, which rolled a little ways. In his attempt to retrieve it he slipped, took a nose dive off a cliff and rolled a ways down before a tree stopped him.
He’s scratched up and bruised with a minor twisted ankle, but he got away with only a broken hiking pole instead of broken bones. It was pretty pathetic watching him try to pick his way the rest of the way down with only one hiking pole to lean on but I’m glad he’s ok.
When we got to the road we caught a ride to Four Pines Hostel knowing that El D. didn’t have any more miles in him. The beds aren’t the cleanest but overall the hostel is pretty cool. It is set on a large property with a bunch of mowed area to spread out on, free laundry, free showers, a pond and a bunch of farm animals (chickens, cats, ducks, etc) wandering around.
I shouldn’t be surprised anymore that plans can’t be relied on when walking the trail. Since we won’t make Daleville we’ll just sit tight and take a shuttle into Roanoak tomorrow to meet up with Kacy.
Day 63 Mileage: 7.8 mi [Trout Creek -> Four Pines ]
Total Mileage: 712.9 mi