Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day, of which I ended up spending most of the morning and early afternoon hours inside studying. The studying was broken up by some granola making and a quick trip to the gym. In the late afternoon, a few friends and I headed out to Tuckahoe some skeet shooting.
Sunday morning brought some studying and reading before heading off to the Priest for an afternoon hike.
When I reached the Priest shelter about 2.5 miles from the trailhead, I ate some lunch and decided I would keep trekking on the AT headed North. I wanted to see how far Crabtree Falls was from the Priest- I had heard that it was less than a mile. I ended up talking to some locals who were out rootin' on a road that crosses the AT. They told me to hike about another mile and I would reach a spur trail that would lead me to the top of the falls. I probably hiked/ran another mile and a half till the top of the falls. The trail was refreshing as the sun was beaming down on the series of trail-side cascades.
As it was getting later in the day, I wasn't quite sure how far the base of Crabtree was from the Priest trailhead, so I did my best to get down to the parking lot as quick as I could. Once I hit Rt. 56, I turned right towards the Priest trailhead. At that point, my legs were telling me they needed a break. Hitchhiking started to seem like a good option as my legs were tiring out and the parking lot wasn't getting much closer. After about half an hour of walking/running, I started sticking my thumb out at every car that passed. Initially, I got some thumbs up back. I think most of the drivers thought I was just a happy hiker enjoying the beautiful day and was just giving them thumbs up because I was happy. I decided to change my approach. Apparently to them, I either looked too creepy, or too happy. I needed an in between. I tried to look nice, but exhausted, and I did what I could to head nod to them that I wanted a lift, down the road. After a few times using the new approach, I finally got picked up by a lady in a red sports car whom I had passed coming down Crabtree Falls. She didn't even really ask where I was going, or what I needed, she just said, "Hop in!". So, I did, and off we went down 56, another two miles. I was so thankful for her generosity, as another two miles on my not so in shape legs would have made for an even more sore morning than I'm already feeling. I wanted to give her something to thank her, but all I had was a smelly banana peel, and some trail mix.
When I got home I tried to map out the route I took, and the best I can figure is that I probably hiked close to 7 miles and ran another 3. Not that bad, really, but my legs are feeling it today. All, in all, it was a great hike and I am glad I now know how to get from the Priest to Crabtree. I took a few pictures along the hike, and enjoyed the run ins I had with some of the locals, and of course the hiker who picked me up and drove me the final two miles stretch.
Got back to Richmond in time for a worship night at the National and then some hang out time with some friends afterwards.
All in all, a good weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment