Appalachain Trail #38: Blowdowns Oh My!

I absolutely did NOT feel like hiking today. Not much to see, and I couldn’t find any history lessons for today. The last section was blowdowns — the jungle gym kind —while going uphill.

NOBO Section: VA 610 to VA 625

I slept like poo last night. I wasn’t really up for hiking this section, but I did it anyway. There wasn’t anything to really see here. No views, no Triple B’s, no history that I could find. Just a bunch of Mushrooms, lol.

There was one waterfall, if you want to call it that. It was tiny. While the picture below makes it look impressive, it was only maybe 2 feet of cascading water, lol. I was trying to find anything positive to help me get out of this funk.

I realized about halfway through what probably caused it. I woke up this morning and immediately checked the weather (something I always do before heading out for a hike). The weather for today was going to be great, and I was ready to get out and hike.

Then I checked the weather for Shenandoah for the next week, since we are leaving in the morning to head that way, so we can hopefully get ahead of the heat. That is when I saw it.

A major heat wave was coming, and the highs while we are there were supposed to be close (if not) triple digits with feels-like temperatures in the triple digits by 10 am! WTF?!?!? This heat wave was supposed to cover the New England area down into Virginia. But the campsite was already booked, and we were going to need to, once again, roll with the punches.

Anyway, as I was starting my last climb of the day, I encountered some major blowdowns. The worst part is that it was uphill, which made it worse.

Suspenders texted me as soon as I started my uphill ascent and let me know some trail maintainers are on their way to my area to take care of the blowdowns. Unfortunately for me, I’d be done crossing these long before they get here.

I did pass them on my way down and thanked them for what they do (by the way, always thank them if you see them)! They are some serious beasts! Imagine carrying chainsaws in addition to water and food for miles while you clear a trail. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have these trails. I think more hikers need to realize that.

Anyway, I ran into another NOBO hiker who passed me on the way down (I know, shocking, but I just really wasn’t in the mood to hike). I let him know my husband was at the road and had trail magic. I ended up meeting him again at the water crossing and passed him as he was changing shoes (since I wasn’t hiking tomorrow, I had just crossed with my shoes on).

Once I arrived at the truck, I let Suspenders know we were going to wait, as a hiker was coming up behind me.

Once he showed up, we got to talk a lot more. His name is Mailman. He got that name around the beginning of the trail because he was relaying messages from one hiker to another hiker (they were a group that was split up) as he passed them. I thought that was awesome.

Anyway, we headed back to the hotel to start gathering stuff up so we could leave to head to Shenandoah in the morning.

I want to say I am super thankful I am out here. I know many are unable to do this for various reasons. And while I did complain about today, I do know how lucky I am to be out here, and I do thank my lucky stars every day that I can continue to do this….but some days, I get into a weird “funk”.

APPALACHIAN TRAIL DAY 38 VIDEO

AT Gear List

Interested in finding out what I carry on my Appalachian Trail Backpacking Trip? Check out my gear list here: