May 26

Sunrise

We woke up around 4am.  Thirsty, Bush Googles, and I started hiking the mile and a half or so we had to get up to McAfee Knob.  The spectacular hanging rock there is noted as the most photographed spot on the entire AT.  We made it up there about 15 minutes before the sun started coming up.  A small pink-orange orb started to appear over the ridges to the east, and I got some amazing pictures.  So worth it.  This was a great idea.  We ate some breakfast, taking about a hour and a half break up there on the knob.  Started hiking again around 8:30.  Took a privy break at Campbell shelter, and also read a hilarious register entry that Apache had left for me there.   Then we had a nice and easy 5 miles or so to get over to Tinker Cliffs.  Just before the cliffs, I saw a turtle.  And I had a mother grouse fly right at me, trying to protect her young.  I gave her space, and kept walking as soon as she got her chicks far enough away from the footpath.  We hung out on the cliffs for about and hour, catching some sun, and relaxing.  Thirsty stopped there for the day to set up camp.  He wanted to see sunset from the cliffs.  BG and I kept going.  Cicadas are out.  Millions of them.  It's like a Biblical plague or something.  Walking through the woods around the Lamberts Meadow shelter, the noise they made was deafening.  Not a fun time.  It was getting pretty hot, and you couldn't hear yourself think due to the noise from these insects.  Had some nice views at Hay Rock.  The rest of the afternoon was a nice ridge walk, but I was sweating buckets in the sun.  Just before Daleville, Va I almost stepped on a snake that was on the trail.  Not very big, maybe 2 feet long, but the coloration on it looked like a copperhead.  I took a picture of it, and later confirmed on Google that it sure was a baby copperhead.  I got to Daleville, and went to the Howard Johnson to split a room with BG.  Nice place, with a pool!  When I went to my room, I ran into Bambam, and he told me to come down to their room.  I had caught back up with the crew.  Rainbow Eyes, Apache, Slims, and Tink were all there!  All 5 of us guys went out to dinner at a BBQ place.  When we asked for the check at the end of the meal, the waitress said that it was taken care of.  Two local couples at the table next to us had noticed we were hikers, and picked up our checks!  Amazing!  We thanked them, and talked about our trip for a few minutes.  It was about an 18 mile day today to get into town.  What an awesome day.  Loving the AT!

Sunrise at McAfee Knob