AT / Troutville to Thunder Hill Overlook

44 miles of hiking • 4250' elevation gain • 2 nights

Our first hike on the Appalachian Trail! We started at Rt. 11 with the hopes of getting picked up at the James River Foot Bridge (around 55 miles)....

Day 1 / March 3 / Hiked 10 miles — Stayed at Wilson Creek Shelter

Day 2 / March 4 / Hiked 24 miles — Our water was frozen in the morning. That day we covered an obscene number of miles for how inexperienced we were, but we knew we had to do a lot each day to make our goal. When we stopped for dinner by a river, it was dusk and we still had three miles to the next shelter. There was a campground nearby, but we decided to keep going in the dark to make our goal for the day. We were both freaked out about hiking in the dark, but we REALLY wanted to get to the shelter. It was uphill the whole way, but I think that helped us focus and the time really went by fast. I usually have an overactive imagination and was worried that my biggest obstacle would be getting scared at night, but I noticed that it wasn't happening. I even tried purposefully thinking of scary stuff but it wouldn't work—I think I was in survival mode and couldn't be bothered to lose focus on getting to the shelter.

We eventually came to a stream where we stopped before crossing, trying to spot the trail on the other side with the headlamp. We weren't having any luck seeing it, which was a very lucky because when I turned back to look at Alfie, we found the stairs leading up to the Bryant Ridge Shelter directly behind us. I still shudder to think about how easily we could have missed it and continued walking for who knows how long. We made it, but I've decided that I do not like to hike in the dark and will probably do my best to avoid it from here on.

The place was huge, being one of the biggest along the AT, two stories high and a porch. Because it was our first trip, bears were still a mystery to us and we actually took the time to haul all of our stuff up to the second floor to feel better about it. It was much warmer up there, too...We were asleep by 9:30 and got some good sleep, but around 5 or 6am I awoke to the sound of feet on the porch below us, accompanied by snorting and heavy breathing. Of course my first thought was Bear! and I froze in my sleeping bag for a few minutes, until finally whispering to Alfie that I heard something beneath us. After having woken him up, we didn't hear a thing and eventually fell back asleep. In the morning I realized that all of the sounds I heard described our visitor as being a deer. Then we saw the fresh hoof tracks all around the porch to verify it...I really wish I had thought of a deer when I heard it.

Day 3 / March 5 / Hiked 10 Miles — We were hoping to hike another 20 miles this day, but the first 10 miles were all uphill and felt endless, taking us to the top of Apple Orchard Mountain, climbing 3000 ft. in elevation. Alfie was doing quite well, but the mountain had been very tiring for me, both physically and emotionally. It was rainy and very, very foggy the entire time which, for lack of better explanation, really creeped me out. There was a magical moment at one point when we smelled a very strong, very fresh scent of licorice that lasted for about 5 minutes. When we finally arrived at the Thunder Hill Overlook around 4pm, I was feeling miserable about the thought of doing 10 more miles, most all of which were going to be downhill. I knew it meant that we would be hiking at night again. My feet were hurting BAD and downhill = pain. The weather was getting worse, I was exhausted and worried, and the thought of going downhill 2000 ft., 10 miles, in mud, in the dark, convinced me to call my parents to pick us up. They were spending the weekend with my grandmother, who lived merely 20 minutes from that overlook, which was part of the Blue Ridge Parkway (I'm sure that knowing they were so close didn't help me resist the urge to call them). My cell phone just barely got through...but it did and I was very relieved, but definitely spent the next 20 minutes crying for being such a quitter. In hindsight, I know it was the right choice, but of course it is frustrating knowing that the feeling of accomplishment would have been great had we met my parents the following day, at our original goal.

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