Tuesday April 16, 18.6mi/29.9km

Route 220/Daleville (729.7) to Bobblets Gap shelter (748.3) (VA)

I slept so well last night, and I could’ve slept forever, but there was a free breakfast downstairs, with waffles! After breakfast, I stopped by the thrift store to get a new pair of shorts, and finally hit the trail at 11:30am. It was another nice spring day.

We climbed up 1000ft/300m, and took a break at a shelter for 2nd lunch. They give these things weird names.

I saw only one other hiker all afternoon, when he stopped for a break at another shelter. Bob and I kept going, and soon came upon the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The trail parallels this scenic tourist road for the next 100 miles or so. The last hour of the day really seemed to go slowly, and we got to the shelter at 6:30pm. Unfortunately, it was another one of those “off trail” shelters which requires extra mileage.

There was one other hiker already at the shelter, a section hiker named Mickey from Germany. The three of us had dinner, or second dinner. The temperature turned cold quickly, so I retreated to my sleeping bag for the night.