Day 40 - Off the Trail with Fingers Crossed

(2nd Effort. Much to my aggravation, the first one disappeared just as I was finishing it. Arrgh.)

Got up at 6:00, but Mark requested another half an hour, so we lounged 'til then before actually rousing. 48 degrees, high moderate overcast with a watery sun, still a chilly breeze blowing. Quick breakdown and on the trail by 6:55 - our fastest departure to date. Of the 7 people around the ponds, we were the first out. We were intending to do either 16 or 21 miles to a shelter. If we could make 21 miles, that would make the hike to Troutdale (Dickey Gap) around 16.5 miles, enabling us to get in on Thursday late afternoon. Otherwise we'll have to really hustle on Friday morning, to make the shuttle back to Trail Days in Damascus.

Breakfast after an hour on the trail. Various ups and down to VA 601 (or 608?), then a very long uphill to Whitetop Mtn, which is Virginia's 2nd highest point. Quite windy on the southern face that we were climbing - 15 - 30 mph. Most of the upper mountain was an old orchard, maybe apples. Finally made it to Buzzard Rock (or Rocks), offering some great views (Pete - sent a photo of this earlier today - got it - see above). Very windy here. Whitetop Mtn is poorly named - the actual peak is quite dark, almost black, due to a thick grove of evergreens, either hemlocks or spruces. Looks a little like Black Mountain at Philmont. The trail did not go over the actual peak, but rather around it to the right. There was an access side trail to the peak, but since we were trying to make 21 miles, and it didn't look like there'd be any view anyway, we passed on climbing to the peak.

This part of the trail was the roughest we had seen so far in VA, rocky and uneven, and Mark starting experiencing sharp pain in his left quadriceps, which got worse and worse as we headed downhill off the mountain. By the time we reached Elk Park (VA 600), he stopped and said he couldn't go any further. So we took an hour break at a campsite just off the parking lot there, and I massaged his quad and surrounding area, twice, to see if that would help. Several other hikers passed us during this time. We started up again on the climb to Mt. Rogers, but within five minutes Mark said "No Go," so we returned back to the park, intending to hitch back to Damascus or Abingdon, or at worst camping in place off the parking lot. Fortunately a guy who had just passed us (also heading back downhill) turned out to be an ATC member, and he offered us a ride to VA 58 - a good thing, because VA 600 was a sparsely travelled road, with scant opportunities to get a hitch back to any town. This guy (Nat; trail name Natty Bumpo) was doing short day hikes with his brother in law (Bill Norris) - Bill drove up to the peaks and walked down, while Nat climbed up to the peaks and drove down. So Nat was doing the climb to Whitetop, but would give us a lift as soon as he drove back down. Now that's "real" trail magic!

So we hung out, eventually putting on our rain gear against the chill and wind - the day finally got very nice - clear blue skies with a few fluffy clouds - but it was still pretty cold. Another group of 3 (including Captain Caveman, plus a dog) came down and also tried to hitch in; no luck there. I checked the parking lot kiosk and saw there was a hospital in Marion, which is where Nat and Bill were staying, at Hungry Mother State Park (in their RV). After about an hour and a half, Nat returned, and agreed that it made sense to take us to Marion. Since Bill was still on the trail, Nat then took the other group down to US 58. He returned about 20 minutes later, and we loaded up, literally one minute before Bill showed up. And so we headed off to Marion on 600, 58, and 16, all three very sharply descending, windy roads. Nat and Bill were very friendly, and we enjoyed the ride, chatting about various issues about the trail.

In Marion, we eventually settled on the Virginia House Motor Inn, nice place and not too pricey, plus fairly close to various restaurants and other useful places (pharmacy, WalMart, etc.) We got Nat's and Bill's c.p. #'s, and offered to treat them to dinner the next night, which they accepted (they chose a Mexican place near the hotel). After moving to our room, we quickly headed off to eat at the Pioneer, because it allegedly closed within the hour (it was 7:10 or so), but it fact they closed at 2:30 because of the recession. So we hit the only oher close place, the Mexican restaurant (Mi Puerta), in deference to Mark's leg - he was still hurting. Decent food. That took us till about 8:45, at which point Mark went back to the room and I headed off to the Magnusson Hotel across the street, which has courtesy Internet for the patrons of the Virginia Inn. Sent some brief emails to Pete and Pauline letting them know of our situation, then headed back to the Inn. Grabbed a much-needed shower, then called Marco and discussed various house issues. Hit the rack around 10:00, but Mark stayed up for Sports Center and some other programs. Plan is to see how a night of rest helps - or not - and then hit the hospital first thing tomorrow morning, while I do some blog reports at the Magnusson.

So, turned into another semi-nero, 11 miles and Whitetop Mtn. done, but obviously we are both very concerned about whether Mark can continue. Our fingers are crossed!
- Bob