Day 77
Start: Blackhorse Gap
End: Jennings Creek, VA 614
Miles Hiked: 14.6
Miles on AT: 744.1
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Another slackpack day. The weatherman called for more heat today, so we decided to take it easy and slack. Driving up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, the views were magnetizing. The sky was clear and, oddly, there wasn’t any traffic on the road.
We started hiking just before 9 am and within 1 mile of hiking, guess what we stumbled upon? Trail magic! Johnny Shofar was making pancakes for hikers and there were already 3 or 4 hikers sprawled on the grass in front of his truck, pancakes already eaten. Janitor couldn’t have a pancake, but I did along with a Coke – breakfast of champions!
We must’ve stayed there for 20-30 minutes as more hikers came in and the conversation flowed. Johnny had started this just 12 days ago, when he decided to come up and make breakfast for himself while enjoying a view. Hikers came by, thinking it was trail magic. Unable to bear the faces of hungry hikers, he made them breakfast and decided to come back every day afterward and continue to feed hikers. Talk about a trail angel!
After we gave our thanks and said our goodbyes to our fellow hikers, we continued on our hike, walking along the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) for a few miles to take in the views. The trail is never far away from the BRP on this stretch, so when it got too hot and sunny for Janitor, we dipped back into the trees for cover.
The day was warm, but not unbearably so. We had only one climb today and we tackled it pretty quickly before descending down to the road and creek. Today was a short day made a bit easier by trail magic and the BRP.
Soon, we were zooming back to town for lunch and a hot shower. I also hit a new milestone today – I ate a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. I had never eaten a whole pint in one day before, so I was a little proud of myself and my hiker hunger. Thanks to our early start today, we had the rest of the evening to relax and rest.
And that’s day 77.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.