(Walker Gap Campsite (mile 571.3) - Helvey's Mill Shelter (mile 594))

I woke up at 6:35am and packed as quickly as possible. After eating breakfast in camp, I started hiking at about 7:45am. I was the last person to leave camp. Hopefully, I could get at least a couple hours of hiking in before the rain started. The morning air felt really nice, and although the sky was overcast, the clouds didn’t look too spooky. Definitely rain, but probably not any crazy thunderstorms.

My goal for the day was to hike as far as possible. AC is picking me up tomorrow in Bland, VA. We have an Airbnb yurt in West Virginia that I’m super excited about. Unfortunately, I don’t think the yurt has a washer and dryer. So ideally, I think I should try to do laundry before AC picks me up, but it doesn’t look like there is anywhere in Bland where I can wash my clothes without staying the night. AC is projecting that she’ll get to Bland sometime around 12:00pm - 1:00pm, so potentially I could hike a little past Bland tonight, and then tomorrow morning I could make my way to Lickskillet Hostel and do my laundry while I wait for AC. The road into Bland (Interstate 77) was 21.1 miles away and Lickskillet Hostel was another 12.6 miles beyond that. It was an ambitious plan that might not be possible. We’ll just have to see if the weather and my body cooperate.

Elevation held pretty steady for most of the morning, with lots of rocky ups and downs along the ridge. After 6.5 miles, I passed Mr. Darcy, who explained he’s a slow hiker, just before the trail began to descend from the ridge into a gap. Around this time, the clouds to the south started growing ominous, but the rain continued to hold out. At this point in the morning, I was listening to Brother Ali’s newest record “Secrets and Escapes.” Brother Ali is hands down my favorite musical artist. This project is a bit of a departure from Ali’s usual material, at least in his approach to its creation. Ali is an incredible songwriter, who usually creates painstakingly polished raps with strong thematic and narrative focus. His music is beautifully dense and powerful. “Secrets and Escapes” was created in a much looser, spontaneous manner. The album is produced entirely by Evidence, using an old school physical sampler and 2-track compressor, and was recorded entirely in Ev’s garage studio. In interviews, Ali has explained that he recorded many of the tracks in the moment, bar by bar. More of a stream of consciousness - a bit like freestyling. I knew none of this when I first heard the album. My first listen left me a bit confused. It wasn’t what I expected. But over time, the project has continued to grow on me. Highlights include “Red Light Zone,” “They Shot Ricky,” and “Father Figures” (which, Ali has explained, is the only song he wrote ahead of time).

The trail descended from the ridge for about 2.8 miles towards Jenkins Shelter near Hunting Camp Creek. Just before I reached the shelter, I was passed by a man hiking at a furious pace. As he breezed past me, I noticed that he had trekking poles but wasn’t even using them. Instead they were strapped to his pack, as I might do if I was in town. When you hike as fast as he was, trekking poles must just get in the way. When I reached the shelter I found Mr. Speed Racer, who introduced himself as “Skywalker,” which I think was simply a reference to his legal first name, Luke. As we ate lunch, ASAP and Delta reached the shelter. Soon afterwards the rain started. Skywalker finished his lunch, slung his pack on, and began to hike off at a brisk pace. ASAP shouted: “Slow down!” after him, to which Skywalker replied: “Hike your own hike!” Fair enough, I suppose.

After 4.5 miles of hiking in mild rain, I crossed over Laurel Creek on an impressive footbridge. At this point in the afternoon, I had wandered down a bit of a musical memory lane and was listening to Hollywood Undead, a band from LA who’s genre can fairly be classified as rap-rock. Hollywood Undead’s music was huge for me in middle school, and many of their songs (e.g. “Young” and “This Love, This Hate”) were anthems of my formative years. My first concert was Hollywood Undead. My buddy Connor and I saw them at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, chaperoned by my father, while they were touring off their 2011 sophomore project “American Tragedy.” It was awesome. As I hiked, I listened to their debut 2008 album “Swan Songs,” followed by the “Swan Songs B-Sides EP,” and finally “American Tragedy.” I loved these albums back in the day. Returning to them a decade later, I found that my old favorites still brought a lot of joy. I’ll admit that even back in middle school I found some of their songs cringey, and those songs certainly didn’t hold up.

For the next 6.3 miles, I queued up a string of high school throw backs, including albums from Tacoma, WA rap crew ILLFIGHTYOU and Atlanta rapper ILOVEMAKONNEN. It was no longer raining so much as it was misting. I hiked by two overlooks at mile 587.3 and mile 588.8, but was mostly treated to views of clouds. I briefly caught up to ASAP who explained that he was meeting a friend in Bland and asked if he could take my picture. He liked to take pictures of fellow hikers and people he met along the way so that he could remember them.

At mile 591.2, I reached the south end of a long 1.5 mile road walk which led over Interstate 77. The road walk was exposed, windy, and cold. Overall a fairly miserable affair. On the other side of I-77, I was happy to be routed back into the woods, which offered relief from the wind. Another 1.4 miles brought me to Helvey's Mill Shelter, which was located about a quarter mile off the trail. When I reached the shelter, I found Push, Excel, and Skywalker huddled inside. I set up my tent behind the shelter, but opted to sit in the shelter for dinner. Skywalker offered me foraged ramps (a wild leek) and explained how to spot them. I added the ramps to my ramen and it was delicious! Nothing quite like a fresh veggie on trail. Skywalker explained that he lived in a tiny home outside Asheville where he foraged professionally. He apparently made a killing supplying local chefs with gourmet mushrooms and seasonal veggies like ramps. Apparently, he had gotten most of his AT gear in a trade with the owner of Mountain Crossings for a massive amount of gourmet mushrooms!

After dinner, I hung my bear bag with Excel and then made a stop at the privy before bed. The privy was entirely exposed to the elements, with a single large wall of plywood installed to breakup the line of sight between the privy and the shelter. It was private enough.

After 22.7 miles - which I think is my longest day so far - I was feeling pretty tired. Feeling good, but tired.