Day 75 – Spy Rock Road to Glasgow, VA

Up at 5:00. Thunderstorms and rain last night cooled things off a bit. Should be in the mid-80s and partly cloudy today. That was the first rain in several weeks. 

Headed out to the trailhead at 6:15. There was a tree down on the BRP as we drove to the trailhead this morning. The 8 of us manhandled it out of the road. Little upper body workout to start the day. And we had to stop to get a baby raccoon out of the middle of the road. Getting good karma this morning.

We got dropped off at 7:15 about 1.1 miles from the trail. There is a private road, Spy Rock Road, that allows hikers access but no vehicle access to the trail. The walk up to the trail is a good warmup….so I am telling myself.

On the trail at 7:45. The hike today is much easier than yesterday. Two good climbs but only about 1.2 miles each and not insanely steep. 

Stopped for a snack at 8:30 and 2.0 miles in.

Got water at mile 3.

Stopped for food at 11:50 at mile 9. Back on the trail at 12:05.

Summited Cole Mountain at 1:25 at 11.2 miles. We have 5 miles to go.

We saw a big rattlesnake across the trail around 3 miles left to go. About the size of my upper arm and 4-5 feet long. Took a bit to get him off the trail.

YouTube video of the Rattlesnake 

We met The Rascals for the first time today (Glass, Newt, Polar, 23). I will see them a lot on and off for the next 3+ months.

Got to trailhead at 3:50. Good day. Back hurts though. I moved my hip belt lower on my pack about 2-3 inches (as far as it goes). Will see if the longer torso on the pack will help.

Overkill and I went to the restaurant for dinner at 5:30, then picked up a few groceries. Got mostly packed up for the transfer to Waynesboro tomorrow. Got online and paid the monthly bills. Had a long call with Dana, then hung out till 10:00 when I went to bed. 

We need to nail down hotels for Front Royal and Harpers Ferry as those both fill up fast with tourists this time of year. We can do that on our zero in Waynesboro.

Technical Notes:

• Pop-Tarts 380
• Blueberry pancakes with syrup 400
• Sausages 650
• Little Debbie oatmeal pie 340
• Fig bar 200
• Trail mix 500
• Dr. Pepper 150
• Italian sub 1200
• Onion rings 400
• Pringles 400
• Cider 700
• Water liters 4
• Miles 16.3  + 1.1 + .6
• Time 8:10 + 30
• Elevation gain 3100
• Calories consumed  6000
• Calories burned 6700