It was an eventful night at McAfee Knob. The rule is "no camping" at the knob, which seems a little hypocritical, since there are powerlines running over the mountain less than half a mile from the summit! Me, Tate (the guy I've been hiking wit), as well as some section hikers from Michigan, decided that it wouldn't be all that bad if we spread out our sleeping bags on the rock and cowboy camped. Well no sooner had the sun gone down and we hunkered down for the night than we heard some little squeaks. Upon turning on the headlamps, we discovered big, potato-sized rats! They were scurrying along the cracks and ledges and corners of the rocks. My biggest concern was my backpack; I did not want to wake up to a hole in my food bag! We all hung up our packs and Tate and the sectioners put their tents on the rocks in fear of the rats, but I figured they wouldn't bother me if I just slept away from their cracks and crevices. I am happy to report that I was right, and I woke up well rested to this morning's sunrise.
The day was good, traversing the Tinker Cliffs on the way into Daleville. At Daleville was probably the strangest trailhead I've ever seen. You come out of the woods abruptly to the parking lot of a dry cleaners! And across the street, you enter in similar abrupt fashion from a Sunoco gas station. It's very strange to me how even the best efforts to create a 2000 mile string of wilderness still end up with a few spots of development like that.
Tonight I'm in Troutville, which is really part of Daleville. The town allows hikers to camp in their park and take a shower and do laundry at the fire station! Score! Also, it's worth noting that at about 730 miles, I've walked 1/3 of the trail. Crazy.
- Scribbles (aka Ted)
9:17 p.m. 5/5/2015
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