Rhody tunnel…just like the AT.
Big drop off right next to the trail…just like the AT.
Spectacular view…just like the AT (the place down below on the right side of the photo is the CS&S Coal Mine operation. That coal train we saw could have come from there).
Hwy in the distance…just like the AT.
Look! A fire tower…just like the AT. If it was the AT, we would be hiking to it!
We woke up this morning to “rain”, only it wasn’t raining. It was very foggy, and the trees were dripping onto our tents. During the night, I got up to pee. I could see this shadow of someone walking around. Was it Doug? Then it turned just right, and I could see it was the shadow of a deer. Oh…it’s just a deer…it won’t care if I pee outside my tent.
We finally got packed up, and headed out about 7:50. For the first time in a long time, it was actually chilly. I even had the sleeves of my hi-vis jacket on.
We went to the gift shop at the Lodge. There we filled out a form saying we were doing the Trans Am, when we started, how many miles, etc. Then the lady gave us each Virginia Trans Am pins. Supposedly, every state has them. This is our last state, and the first we’re hearing about it. I also wanted to get post cards, but they didn’t have any.
Back out on the route, we had some good downhill before starting the first of three humps before the big climbs. It was chilly going downhill.
Here’s a better photo of how the kudzu engulfs everything.
We stopped for a snack at Haysi. Then we had a fairly easy ride along the Russell Fork to Council.
Russell Fork down there…not as big as where it runs through Breaks Interstate.
From Council, it was about a 3 mile climb with probably an average of 8%. However, every time I swiped my screen to the grade, it was at least 9%. It was a fair number of switchbacks, which I generally like, but there was also a fair amount of traffic. At one point, I had to pull off the road for a oversized load of a half of a mobile home to make the corner.
Looking back at a rest spot. We are definitely getting into the Appalachian Mountains! Not too much further, I saw a woman sitting at a…side-of-the-road sale (saw lots of these “sales” today…is it a first of the month thing? I should have asked.), I said to her, “Does this hill ever end?” She said I was at the top, then asked where I was from. Then she said, “Woo-eee, you go girl!”
So that was the end of the first big climb…thankfully! But we had another one to come. We stopped at Honaker for some lunch. That may or may not have been the best idea considering right after Honaker, we had another long climb. Where the other climb was more shady, this one was more full sun.
Saw a few of these green treeless hills today.
I finally reached the top (Doug was ahead), and started down to Rosedale. We got on a four lane Hwy with a rumble strip right down the middle of the shoulder. Okay, right lane it is!
We weren’t on it for too long, just a couple miles before we turned off, back onto the two-lane we’ve been riding all day. In .2 miles we came to our stop for the night. Tonight, the Elk Garden Methodist Church is our host. I just texted one of the numbers on the door, and a woman texted me back with the code for the door.
There is a cold shower behind the parsonage that was an Eagle Scout project, but the curtain was more not there than there. Not a big deal, except there was the guy mowing the lawn (it’s a big lawn). I finally opted for a sink bath (with warm water).
We dried out our soaking wet tents as we won’t likely sleep in them tomorrow either, because we’ll possibly be at a hostel in Damascus. Just a side note…my tent is really getting to smell musty. Even if it seems dry, the humidity has taken its toll. However, we are T-minus 10 days to touchdown in Yorktown, and not all those days will be camping. That’s right folks…T-Minus 10 days to the finish!!!
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