Hiking to McAfee’s Knob

Our vacation has come to an end.  I’m safely snuggled up at home, fire going in the woodstove, suitcases packed away and laundry almost done.  Every move I make reminds me of our greatest accomplishment – hiking to McAfee’s Knob.

Before we began our trip to Florida, I mapped out the possible routes and obtained an estimate for the cost of gas.  To my surprise, one route would take us right through the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia – in about the exact area where we are looking to hike next year.  Then began my efforts to convince Cheryl that we had to take that route at least one way.  Sure, it would add an extra hour, but the view would be worth it.  I ordered a road atlas and when it came in the mail, we began mapping our route.

During our time in Florida, I excitedly realized that our route home would take us within minutes of the Appalachian Trail.  Now I just had to convince Cheryl that we should spend one of our days hiking out in the woods.  It was easier than I anticipated!  She eagerly agreed and we set off planning our return.  We acknowledged that we were not prepared to hike but agreed that we would make it work and figure it out.  On Thursday we set our sights on Roanoke and off we went.

Friday morning we woke to a dreary sight – rain, rain and more rain.  My trusty weather app kept telling me that the rain was expected to last longer into the afternoon than we had planned on.  We had one day to get this hike in and decided that we were going, rain or shine.  Our footwear choices consisted of sandals, work boots and sneakers.  I weighed the options carefully – or so I thought.  Sneakers would be comfortable, work boots would keep my feet dry, sandals weren’t an option.  We trekked off to Wal Mart in our work boots and finished equipping ourselves for the day.

McAfee’s Knob sits directly on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia, approximately 20 minutes northwest of Roanoke.  It is reported as one of the most photographed spots on the entire trail.  If you google McAfee’s Knob, you will find some beautiful and awe inspiring pictures.  I was excited and couldn’t wait to get out there.  I knew we were in for a challenge, but I was thrilled that I wouldn’t have to wait a whole year to set my feet on the AT.  In a total of 3.9 miles, we would gain 1700 feet.

We found our way to the parking lot and checked out the map and posted information.  Behind us was the mountain and to our left was the actual, living, breathing AT.  We found a nice guy sitting in his truck who was willing to climb out in the rain and take our picture.  We made some small talk, explained what we were doing, thanked him and ran across the road to get started.

When you start off to McAfee’s Knob, you are immediately met with an uphill hike with a few switchbacks.  We had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into.  It was posted on FB though, so there was no turning back now.  I certainly wasn’t going to follow up with posting that we had changed our minds and turned back.  When the going got tough on the way up, that was exactly what I said to Cheryl – I can’t tell everyone on FB that we didn’t finish.  One step at a time, we kept moving – up and down and back up and back down and onward.  Since it was a weekday and the weather wasn’t great, we didn’t expect to meet many other hikers.  We were told by a few folks that it would be too early to meet any thru hikers (the folks who travel the entire AT, typically starting in Georgia and ending in Maine).  Three folks had actually set out before us as we parked.

Along the trail, there are two shelters.  They aren’t much, but when all you have to sleep in is a tent or hammock, I imagine it is close to a 5 star hotel.  We came upon the first shelter and were discovered by a little dog wearing a red jacket.  She had seen us coming and was alerting her hiking partners.  I was thrilled to see an actual AT shelter, so down we went.  To our surprise, we found two thru hikers (owners of the dog), two section hikers and one other guy whom we were a bit leery of.  Out on the AT you need to trust your instincts.

The thru hikers – a man and woman about our age – had started in Georgia (Springer Mountain) in December and were Maine bound.  We expressed our surprise at finding thru hikers this early in the year at this spot.  According to them, there were two others from Canada ahead of them.  We inquired about the dog and they told us that she had hiked all but two days so far.  They set off with us not far behind.  Eventually the section hikers, a man and his young son from Tennessee, caught up to us and we learned a few things about each other.  We would continue to pass each other as we made our way to the top – one step at a time.  We never saw the other guy again.  We asked the man from Tennessee about him.  He said that he had supposedly been working in the South and was hiking home to Pennsylvania.  He didn’t seem entirely convinced of this and neither were we.  He wasn’t dressed in typical hiker fashion and Cheryl didn’t see a pack or any other items with him.

The further we went up, the more we worried about making it back down and making it out before the sun disappeared.  We had managed to forget a flashlight and Cheryl is very scared of the dark.  I’m not much of a fan myself.  After what seemed like forever, there it was – that view that I had spent weeks looking at via pictures from other folks who had made it up and back down.  Our section hiker friends were there as well and together, we marveled at the view – exclaiming that it had all been worth it.  Originally we had planned to sit a top the Knob for a half hour and have lunch.  The wind, random snow flakes and cold temperatures changed our minds.  We each called our moms and let them know that we had made it up.  We snapped our own beautiful pictures, Cheryl discovered that there was a geocache back down the mountain and off we went.

Going down the mountain proved to be more difficult for me.  My knees took a beating as well as the back of my right ankle as my boot cut into it.  There was no choice though, we had to keep going.  We discussed several times on the way back down that sneakers would have been the better choice.  Live and learn.

Through all of my investigating of McAfee’s Knob, I knew that there was an alternate way down.  There was an old fire lane road that intersected the trail and would cut off a half mile of our trip.  It may not seem like much, but when you’re moving along slower than a snail with pain in every step, a half mile is a lot.  My wife was an excellent hiking partner.  We encouraged each other along the way and she helped me down every steep step on the way down.  We met many other folks along the way, some day hikers and some section hikers.  Eventually, we finally made it back down to the bottom and across the road to the parking lot.  Everything hurt from the neck down, but we had made it!  We let our moms know that we had survived, and off we went back to Roanoke.  On our way back, I cried at the realization of our accomplishment.

We rewarded ourselves with a Mexican dinner and two large margaritas.

Today we are slow moving and sore.  Every aching muscle reminds me that I have two working feet and two working legs capable of carrying me wherever I need to go.  I needed to go up that mountain and bless my wife, she went with me.