Trip Report-Section Hike in Central Virginia

[rmitchell]

Tuesday I returned from a section hike northbound from Daleville to Spy Rock Road trail distance of 95 miles.. The weather was warm but remarkabily it did not rain for the entire trip. Probably due to the rainy summer, water was not an issue. All the springs and streams had some water avaiable.

In a couple of sections the weeds were quite tall. Between Big Rocky Row and Punch Bowl Mountain the stinging nettles and goldenrod were chest high. I had to were my long underwear for protection from the nettles. Also from Hwy 60 to the top of Bald Knob had high weeds but not as bad. I did report this to the Natural Bridge Club. (In all fairness to the volunteer maintainers, it has been a very wet summmer. The goats I use for weed controll at home are behind on their usual job.)

I visited all but one of the shelters in the area but stayed in only two of them. Mosquitos were pretty bad so I preferred to sleep in my tent. There was not a lot of hiker traffic. In 8 days I met about 25 other backpackers. All but one night I camped alone.

Some of the southbound thru hikers I met included Brightside, Numbers, Stretch, The Jesus and Minty Fresh. There were others but I forgot their names.

AWOL's 2013 guide was spot on as to water, camping locations and services. The only correction that I can think of is that the campsite listed at NoBo mile 797.5 is posted as no camping. This may be because of the proximity to the Lyncburg Reservior. All shelters had a water source except for Cove Mountain which is listed in the Data Book and in AWOL's guide as "nw".

Cow Camp shelter is .6 miles off the trail so I did not go by it. The other shelters were well maintained and clean with little trash. Most all of the shelters had new privys.

I saw a some scat but no bears. There were hundreds of squirrels and several deer.

I hope this is of some use to anyone intending to travel this section in the near future.

[Kerosene]

I liked that section when I went through in October 2003. Water was a bit harder to come by that Fall. I'm surprised that you only encountered a few dozen other hikers, especially in September. It's amazing at how traffic drops off after Labor Day.

[FarmerChef]

That is a fabulous section of Virginia. Glad you had a great time. Do you have any pictures to share?

[HikerMom58]

I liked that section when I went through in October 2003. Water was a bit harder to come by that Fall. I'm surprised that you only encountered a few dozen other hikers, especially in September. It's amazing at how traffic drops off after Labor Day.

The trail thru here seems more crowded than ever, Kerosene. I think it's popularity is def. growing. Central VA is beautiful!! Sometimes water is an issue through here... not this year. Resupply can be tough..there are ways around that prob. too. Resupply buckets work well ...jus sayin.

Devil's Marble Yard is always packed these days too. Love the place!! It's not on the AT but it's a great hike.

rmitchell ----- great report!!! :>) So nice to meet you too! :0)

[colorado_rob]

Thanks for sharing! I'm heading out tomorrow for hopefully 300 miles heading north from Catawba (just south of Daleville) to Harpers Ferry. I'm not expecting such great luck with the weather though...

[HikerMom58]

Thanks for sharing! I'm heading out tomorrow for hopefully 300 miles heading north from Catawba (just south of Daleville) to Harpers Ferry. I'm not expecting such great luck with the weather though...

Hey.. that's cool. The weather should be OK... prob. not rain free for 300 miles, tho. There's a few other Wber's that will be walking right through here too. The timing might be off slightly. Bummer. Teacher&Snacktime will be here, hopefully, on Wednesday. If you want to meet us- give us a hollar. We might be able to pull out a Homeplace visit... feel free to join us if you want too. I'm pretty sure Deer Hunter will be all over that one.... LOL.

[colorado_rob]

Hey.. that's cool. The weather should be OK... prob. not rain free for 300 miles, tho. There's a few other Wber's that will be walking right through here too. The timing might be off slightly. Bummer. Teacher&Snacktime will be here, hopefully, on Wednesday. If you want to meet us- give us a hollar. We might be able to pull out a Homeplace visit... feel free to join us if you want too. I'm pretty sure Deer Hunter will be all over that one.... LOL.

Well, it would be nice to meet some WB'ers, but not having learned from my 1st long hike, I stupidly created a schedule constraint that makes me have to cover over 50 miles by Thursday. After that I can relax a bit and stroll along. thanks!

[Deer Hunter]

[QUOTE=Shmaybix;1527611]Hey.. that's cool. The weather should be OK... prob. not rain free for 300 miles, tho. There's a few other Wber's that will be walking right through here too. The timing might be off slightly. Bummer. Teacher&Snacktime will be here, hopefully, on Wednesday. If you want to meet us- give us a hollar. We might be able to pull out a Homeplace visit... feel free to join us if you want too. I'm pretty sure Deer Hunter will be all over that one.... LOL.[/QUOTE]

Yes!!!!!!!!! Pass the roast beef please.

[Deer Hunter]

Thanks for sharing! I'm heading out tomorrow for hopefully 300 miles heading north from Catawba (just south of Daleville) to Harpers Ferry. I'm not expecting such great luck with the weather though...

Weather starting out looks pretty good for ya.

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenda...+USVA0132:1:US

http://www.weather.com/weather/tenda...+USVA0203:1:US

[HikerMom58]

Well, it would be nice to meet some WB'ers, but not having learned from my 1st long hike, I stupidly created a schedule constraint that makes me have to cover over 50 miles by Thursday. After that I can relax a bit and stroll along. thanks!

Sounds like a plan!! You should be able to knock out those miles just fine. Enjoy ur hike colorado_rob!!

DH... you are hooked on the Homeplace, for sure!

[rmitchell]

centralVA.9.2013 077.jpgcentralVA.9.2013 086.jpgcentralVA.9.2013 137.jpg

That is a fabulous section of Virginia. Glad you had a great time. Do you have any pictures to share?

[Deer Hunter]

Like this.

[rmitchell]

He was practically in your backyard.

[FarmerChef]

Loved the sunset. I just had to stare into that one for a while.

[rmitchell]

Loved the sunset. I just had to stare into that one for a while.

Thanks. Actually it was a sunrise from Little Rocky Row.