(John's Spring Shelter (mile 711.5)) - Daleville, Virginia (mile 730.3))

I woke up at 3:30am to the sound of obnoxious teenagers screaming as they walked past the shelter. Despite my annoyance, I’ll admit it was an effective alarm. I packed my things and was on trail a little after 4am. Being such a popular spot, the trail up to McAfee Knob was wide and well graded, which made for nice early morning hiking.

I made it to the knob at about 5:20am and found that the screaming teenagers had tried (and failed) to build a small fire in the middle of the trail right before the knob. Otherwise, I was the first hiker at the knob. According to Google, today’s sunrise was technically at 6:30am, but I began taking a timelapse as soon as the first light started to creep over the horizon. Lots of day hikers started showing up just as the sun was peaking over the mountains. Excel arrived and offered to take my obligatory McAfee Knob photos for me. I returned the favor.

Excel explained that she was meeting her husband in Daleville in two days, so she was taking it super easy. We hung around the knob to eat breakfast and then hiked on less than a mile to Campbell Shelter. I needed to use the privy and get water. Afterwards, I chatted with Excel a bit before hiking on without her.

The next 5 miles offered lovely trail and a plenty of great views. The AT then routed along Tinker Cliffs, providing dramatic panoramas for a half mile or so. I took my time through this section, stopping to snack and take lots of pictures. Of my three triple crown experiences, Tinker Cliffs was definitely the most peaceful. I had the cliffs all to myself.

After Tinker Cliffs, the remainder of the day was almost entirely downhill. I was making decent time. I wanted to get to Daleville as early as possible so that I would have time to resupply, shower, do laundry, and maybe even take a nap before meeting Delta, Puddin, Clover, Katie, and Jasmine for dinner at a Mexican restaurant. To keep pace, I queued up a playlist of every Eminem song from my middle school iPod. It seemed to work as songs like “Lose Yourself,” “Till I collapse,” and “Like Toy Soldiers” drove me past Lambert’s Meadow Shelter, where I briefly stopped to collect water and start soaking my ramen lunch. After another 2.5 miles, I stopped at a nice overlook for lunch.

The next 7 miles followed the ridge as it gradually declined toward Daleville. The ridge was populated by several monolithic rock outcroppings, which provided excellent views overlooking the Carvin Cove Reservoir to the south. The trail then passed under three sets of powerlines and over a set of railroad tracks, before dumping me out at US Route 220, just outside Daleville.

I arrived just before 2pm. The AT crosses US Route 220 just north of a major exit off Interstate 81. Thus, the area was less a charming trail town and more a sprawling commercialistic interstate pitstop. Fortunately, this meant there were cheap restaurants and motels galore. I walked beside the highway to resupplied at a nearby Kroger. I then met Delta, Clover, Puddin, Retro, and Jasmine (now “Jazz” or “PB&Jazz”) at Three Lil’ Pigs BBQ, which was in the same shopping center. Retro and Jazz were excited to explain that the group had settled on a trail family name: “Dino’s Assorted.” Which I believe referred to a brand of cheap plastic dinosaur toys that they had gotten a hold of. Or maybe it was off-brand fruit snacks. I don’t remember exactly, but the name was fine by me.

I had already eaten lunch, so I didn’t order any BBQ, but I enjoyed catching up with the other “Dinos.” They had apparently spent last night cowboy camping at Tinker Cliffs, where they had run out of water and had to hydrate with vodka😂 Delta was the only one planning to spend the night along the highway into Daleville, so we agreed to meet at the Mexican Restaurant for dinner. I then made my way to Motel 6, which involved an on-foot sidewalk-less crossing under Interstate 81. It was super sketchy and honestly maybe the most unsafe part of my thru-hike thus far. The scariest part was that I needed to do it three more times.

I checked in, showered, tarted my laundry, and took a nap. After my nap, I met Delta at El Pancho Mexican restaurant for dinner, which involved crossing under the interstate again. It was classic Tex-Mex fare. I ordered myself a big burrito smothered in cheese and a Modelo Negra. It hit the spot.