Day 50: How a 16 Mile Day Turns into a 33 Mile Day (and Nearly a 41 Mile One)

Origin: Helvey Mill Shelter
Destination: Docs Knob Shelter

Today's miles: 33.4
Total miles: 623.6

We had our plan in place: we would hike the 16 miles to the grocery, where Magge would be whisked away to Pearisburg and I would camp, and then I'd put in 25 miles the following day while she rested.  The 16 miles went well compared to the previous two days and we arrived at a decent hour.  We ate some hot dogs while we waited on Magge's ride and I decided that I didn't want to hike the 25 miles the next day because I didn't want to arrive in town that late, and I would instead hike an extra 8 miles right after she got picked up.  

After Magge rushed off to meet her bed and hot shower, I hiked to the next shelter and arrived at 6:45pm.  My legs felt good, I had at least another two hours of sunlight, and the weather had held up better than the forecast had predicted, so I decided to hike another 9 miles to the next shelter.  I figured I would only have to hike an hour in the dark and the shelter would probably have space because the trail had been pretty empty due to the Trail Days hiker festival taking place in Damascus.  My pace over the next two hours was strong, but then I had to stop to change my socks due to chafing.  By the time I was done, it was pitch black out and the path had changed from soft dirt to large rocks, which are already difficult enough to navigate when you can see perfectly.  I could not see perfectly.  The headlamp provides a much more limited field of vision as is, and the fog that had rolled in had made things even more difficult.  

The next 4 miles took me nearly two hours and were mentally exhausting.  The rain picked up during the last half hour and I was drenched by the time I reached the shelter at 11pm.  I peeked inside and was disappointed to see it was full.  None of the immediately surrounding area was flat enough for a proper pitch of my tent, but the dark made it difficult to assess my options.  I considered walking the final 8 miles to Pearisburg.  Physically, I felt fine, but I decided that at least three more hours in the dark, if not more if the terrain was rocky, was unpalatable.  So, I reluctantly pitched the tent on a tiny patch that looked reasonable and got inside, looking forward to a respite from the rain.  I immediately saw that I had misjudged how rocky the ground was, but I was too tired to repitch the tent, and I didn't know where I'd be able to pitch it anyway.  I crammed my sleeping pad into the least rocky corner of the tent, curled up in a fetal position, and tried to fall asleep.  At least I only have 8 miles to Pearisburg and will be there by lunchtime.