Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 84 – Sunrise at McAfee Knob
18th october 2023
Campbell Shelter (1483.5) - Campsite (1508.2)
Daily miles: 24.7
Total miles: 1517.5
Luckily the two other people in the shelter planned to get up for sunrise too because we all got up at 5:30am
Having gone to bed so early I was up around 2am for a wee. Anything before 4:30am I need to get up otherwise I wouldn’t go back to sleep. It started pretty cold but it warmed up so much in the night I woke up too hot and had to unzip my bag. It had cooled off a little at 5:30am when we were all packing up. No breakfast so it was quick; shove everything in our bags and leave, so I was gone by about 5:50am.
It was only 0.7 miles to the top. An uphill climb which I prepared badly for. I was wearing too many layers and I stopped twice on the way up to take clothes off so I was down to just my basic hiking clothes. I was also trying to go at a speed where I didn’t sweat - so very slow - so I wasn’t instantly cooled when I arrived at the top.
We were there far too early for sunrise but we were able to sit and eat breakfast, I had a croissant and a hot chocolate, and then we waited for the sun to come up. It was a little cloudy for a really good sunrise but it was worth getting up there nonetheless. We took our classic McAfee Knob photos and ended up leaving around 8am. We still had 27 miles to do!
Pre-sunrise
You’ve just got to stand on the edge
Here comes the sun
Getting into all sorts of trouble trying to take my headlamp off
Living my best life
Hiker trash
Sunrise
Hikers enjoying the view
Friends!
Views across the valley
Ridge after ridge
I like this one
Recreating the 2018 pic
What an awesome morning!
Sun is up. Time to leave
One last look
We walked down a forest service road which parallels the AT as someone told us it was nicer to walk down as a group because it was wide, and it was. It had gotten a little chilly up on McAfee Knob and we were layered up but as soon as we went uphill slightly we got too hot and had to delayer. We popped out at a road crossing where there was a big parking lot for all the people we passed heading up to see the view; including some monks dressed in their orange robes.
There was a portaloo there but I wasn’t able to make the most of it.
Hiking on we walked as a group for a while, through some fields and past some cows. On the trail there was ‘bees’ written on a rock. We’ve had notes like this before and there haven’t been any bees or wasps so the front people ignored it. Lemonhope walked over it, then Toe and by the time May Queen walked over it the bees were all coming out of their hole. She yelled BEES and as I was right behind her as soon as I saw them - and there were a lot of them - I turned and ran and Cal did the same. We were able to take a trail around the side to avoid them and we hung back for a moment to warn the group of people behind us.
Hiker train
A walk through the fields
Fields of bulls!
We stopped for a lunch break by the creek. It gets pretty cold when you stop so Lemonhope and I were the first ones to leave. It was a big climb up to Dragons Tooth and I remembered coming down it in 2018 to be quite arduous with lots of rocks and walking on ledges and stuff, and it was exactly like that - going down it was probably harder. I plodded my way up. The trail work on this trail is amazing. Lots of stone stairs and foot holds built into the rocks.
The start of the steep ascent to Dragons Tooth
The white blazes mark the way
They aren’t wrong
Basically rock climbing
It took me a while to get up there but when I got to the junction I dumped my pack and walked down to the rock. Lemonhope was already there and I was grateful to him showing me the way up and taking a couple of pictures for me. We hung out there for a while because the views were nice and it was just a nice place to be. Then Toe and May Queen arrived and we hung out a bit more. Longer than we should have probably!
Fluffy white clouds
(not quite the) top of Dragons Tooth
Views from the top
Views from between the rocks
May Queen on the actual top
We walked together for a bit and by 3pm we still had 13 miles to go. Toe said she needed to stop to eat and Lemonhope and May Queen got ahead on the uphill then I caught up to them again on the downhill. They were at the creek filtering water as it’s the last water for a while. A guy comes by on a motorbike and asked if we are SOBOs and did we want a beer?
We crossed the bridge and went to sit with him for a while and the others drank beer but I declined. Toe arrived and had a beer and then Cal caught up and also had a beer.
I was getting cold and it was now 5pm, and we still had 9.7 miles to go! If I was going to make it to the shelter I needed to leave and get my slow ass over this climb.
I actually felt pretty good and was making really good time. The trail was mostly switchbacks and only steep in a few places. Up on the ridge the sun began to set and the sky was glowing orange through the trees. It was really beautiful. It got a bit chilly up there so I tried to hike faster but I succumbed to putting another layer on once I was at the top of the climb. The trail then went down the other side and it was a lot warmer that side.
A moth
Last light
Now I was losing light and I pushed it until I could barely see the trail to put my headlamp on. My pace slowed significantly after it got dark. It’s harder to see the trail and the switchbacks had a steep drop on one side so I really didn’t want to trip up. And I did trip a few times. As I was getting slower I could feel my body winding down and wanting to stop. What I didn’t want to happen was me carry on to the shelter and then the rest of them stop short and I would be at the shelter on my own. Maybe I would wait for someone to catch me up at the bottom of this descent - where there is a campsite marked - and see what the general thought was.
I was looking at Far Out and trying to work things out when I saw a head lamp and it was May Queen’s. We talked over our options. Another 2.4 miles to the shelter with a couple of uphills, or camp here.
We wouldn’t get to the shelter until at least 8:30pm as it was 7:40pm now. We run the risk of other people being there and having to make noise and eat dinner and it would be gone 9pm by the time we were eating. But we should carry on because it means a 29.6 mile day tomorrow if we don’t.
Neither option sounded appealing and we dithered about the decision, neither of us wanting to commit. I felt like I could go another 2.4 miles even though my legs wanted to stop, but did I want to - not really!
We collected water from the creek, preparing to carry extra water to the shelter because we didn’t want to go searching for it when we got there. We walked about 10ft up the trail and May Queen said actually let’s just stop here, because she was too hungry.
So we found a spot and set up and next to arrive was Lemonhope. He said he was pleased we had stopped here and he was 50/50 as he was coming down the trail about wanting to stop here. Then Toe arrives and she was really happy to see us here as she had thought about cowboy camping about half a mile back.
We made our dinners. I had double noodles again and the rest of that chicken breast. I hope it was ok after being in my pack for 2 days. It smelt alright. I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.
Cal arrived and said he knew we would be here. He was prepared to walk to the shelter but he stoped with us. They are all cowboy camping. I’m in my tent but I have pitched it really badly. Lemonhope is only cowboy camping because his tent is wet from a few days ago and he hasn’t dried it yet. That’s a decision he may regret as I’m sure it’s starting to smell and go mouldy.
It feels like it could be condensation station tonight but then again it might not be. It’s not really that cold but we are near water.
Tomorrow me is going to be mad about doing a near 30 mile day but current me is very happy about lying down because my legs are throbbing. I also have more bites appeared on the back of my legs which is annoying. Where are they coming from?
Also, no grip left on my shoes. The Deers eyes in my headlamp at night are spooky. My foot is still sore and I have been stopping to massage it a few times a day.
I haven’t been wearing the KT tape for the last couple of days and my leg feels the same without it as it did with it. It doesn’t particularly hurt when I’m walking other than when I wobble on a rock, but I did discover this evening that when I bend my foot inwards, that hurts a lot. So it’s still not right.
