.September 7, 2006
I jumped about 100 miles further south on the trail today. I usually try to keep adding a piece on to what I've completed and not have scattered segments, but today was a special day. Ten months ago I stumbled upon a website on the Internet while looking for information about an AT side trail. That website was www.runtrails.net. It is the journal of Sue Norwood who I have referred to many times by her trail name 'Runtrails'. With the help of her husband Jim O'Neil and their ultra running dogs Cody and Tater, she completed a thru hike of the AT in 2005. I have read her entire journal at least once, many parts of it several times. This year she added to her journal by completing most of the Colorado Trail and running more ultramarathons. There is also some great entries about the towns and history of the area where they visited.
Sue gave me several options for today's hike, and I decided I wanted to see McAfee Knob. McAfee Knob is one of the most well known spots on the AT as you can stand on a rock that overhangs a cliff. The AT section from road to road is 20 miles here. I didn't want to hike that much after driving two hours. I also didn't want to take up too much of the day hiking. Lynn and I wanted to save time to visit with Sue and Jim. Sue let me know that if I wanted to break the 20 mile stretch, we could hike in on the Andy Layne Trail. This cuts the 20 mile section in half but adds 3 bonus miles. Sounds like a good plan to me.
Sue gave me perfect directions to the trailhead. However, going up VA Rte 311 I thought I missed it and headed back. I gave her a call to confirm I was on the right road. I tried again and this time found the trailhead. I had turned around just a couple minutes too soon. I made us 20 minutes late but Sue was kind enough to overlook this.
When we got there, Sue let us know the plan changed slightly. Jim and Cody had gone ahead. We would drive around to the other end and hike in. This would leave a vehicle for Jim. Lynn would drive back to where we were now and hike in to Sue and me. Sounds confusing but I'm probably not wording it very well. Bottom line, everyone got where the needed to be.
Lynn, Sue, and I started off on the Andy Layne Trail.
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Lynn and Sue cross the first bridge of the day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 'Excuse us madam. May we get through.'
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ This is where Lynn turned back. She's not to comfortable around large animals and didn't want to pass this cow by herself on her return trip. She'll drive around and meet us on the other end. Sue and I continued on, crossing another bridge.
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The trail gets pretty steep after this. We were met by an overwhelmingly friendly dog. Both Sue and I love dogs, but this one was out of control. We hiked up to where the owner had 'lost' him and continued up. At Scorched Earth Gap, the trail connects with the AT.
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I'll have to rehike the Andy Layne Trail another time in order to get the 10 AT miles north of this point. But for now we were southbound and headed toward Tinker Cliffs. The AT goes right along this massive natural rock wall.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Here's a few pictures from Tinker Cliffs
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Rock overhang near Tinker Cliffs
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Did I mention Sue likes to run??? Not a little, but a lot. She said we didn't have to run today, but I've been running on the trail more, especially the last couple of weeks. We ran off and on throughout the day, although I am sure she would have run a lot more had I not been there. Thanks Sue, for taking it down a couple notches. Here she is running ahead. Now you know why her trail name is 'Runtrails'. Although I think the name 'The Bionic Woman' would also be fitting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next I got to meet Jim and Cody as they came from the other direction.
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It's great being with another hiker/runner, not just for the company, but it helps give pictures some scale.
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Sue told me what this body of water was. I can't remember, but judging by my map, I would say it was the northern tip of Carvin Cove Reservoir.
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Campbell Shelter
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There were signs on the AT for McAfee Knob, but surprisingly, no signs once we were actually there. The trail doesn't go exactly to the famous rock overhang. There are many very short trails of just a few yards leading to the cliffs. Sue took my picture on this rock, but we knew it wasn't it.
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The day was hazy, but there was still an incredible view.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On our second attempt we found it. As I walked passed the other hikers one of them said, 'We should move so he can have his picture taken.' I thought that was very kind of them, but none of them moved.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As beautiful as the view was, Sue said that it is so much more beautiful when it is not hazy. But hey, I'm just glad it isn't raining.
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We started down and went over several rock bridges. What are rock bridges? They are not bridges made out of rocks but bridges to go over rocks. Being from Maine, Sue knew I would think this was funny.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Why is this done? It is not that the hikers in the area aren't as tough as other areas, but because McAfee Knob is so famous. This section of the trail tries to accomodate as many hikers as possible allowing people of varying fitness levels to get up to McAfee Knob.
On one of Sue's volunteer days, she helped build the steps on the bridge below. Thanks Sue!
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We went by Boy Scout Shelter. I believe it is not just for the boy scouts, but that it was built by boy scouts.
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A little while later we met Lynn about 2 miles from VA Route 311.
Here's some fabulous fungi as Sue likes to call it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Crossing the last rock bridge. Whether the bridges are necessary or not, the more bridges there are, the more Lynn likes the trail.
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A little while later and we made it VA Route 311. Today's hike was over but the fun was just beginning.
Sue and Jim invited us to their beautiful home in Roanoke. We got to meet their other ultra running lab Tater. They prepared us a delicious Thai dinner with chicken, noodles, and vegetables. I think Sue said it had coconut milk in it as well. It sure was good. We followed this up with fresh fruit for dessert. After 2 weeks of eating out, this home cooked meal was such a treat.
After dinner, we got a tour of their camper which they have used to tour much of the country. It had all the luxuries of home such as electricity, a tv, kitchen, and bathroom. It even had a basement. Basement?? Yes, an area under the camper used for storage.
We went back in the house and played with Cody and Tater for a while.
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We got to see all types of AT and ultra running stuff in their office. Different types of awards, completion certificates, and scrapbooks. We got to see the wonderful plaque that Jim had made for Sue when she completed the AT in 2005. We had such a great time getting to know Jim and Sue. They put us up in their finished basement. They warned us of one thing. With no windows, you lose track of time.
We slept well that night. Much, much nicer than the motel rooms where we have been staying. Lynn got up in the 'middle of the night' to use the bathroom. I decided to look at my watch to see what time it was. Ten of eight. Oops. They were right, it sure felt like the middle of the night. Better get going.
For part of the breakfast course, I got to try Sue's soup that she often made while hiking the AT. She said that Jim won't touch it. It was a unique but yummy combination of pumpkin and peanut butter. Pumpkin and peanut butter?? I know, it was different, but good.
After breakfast Jim showed me their GPS. I'm eventually going to have to get one of those.
Unfortunately, it was time to go so we said good bye to our new friends.
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They gave us perfect directions on getting back to I-81. Thanks so much to Jim and Sue for a wonderful time. It was the perfect end to our 2 week AT hike.
Over the last two weeks I hiked about 200 miles of the AT (about 9%) of the trail. I was hoping to hike at least 218 so I could say I did 10% of the trail. That's OK, we headed back a day early to meet Maddie, our Greater Swiss Mountain Dog/Mix.
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