Day 75
Start: Daleville, VA, US 220
End: Blackhorse Gap
Miles Hiked: 13.6
Miles on AT: 744.1
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We have a zero day tomorrow, so we’re slackpacking today. We woke up early to beat the heat and got on trail close to 8 am. The weather called for a heatwave for the next few days and, after yesterday, I wanted to avoid the afternoon heat as much as possible.
Janitor joined me for this leg. About a mile into our day, we passed a man doing trail maintenance. He was older and had hiked the AT around 2021 with his wife. They were called the “odd couple” because he was 20 years older than he. He commented on how few black women there were on trail, so I let him know I was trying to change that. He had met one other black woman on trail and given her a hitch, so he was happy to see me out there.
We said our goodbyes and Janitor and I continued on. We walked alongside and over roads for a while before we hit a telephone pole with a big message on it. ⅓ of the way to Katahdin!! Another milestone down.
Our climb today wasn’t too bad, not steep, and only ~3 miles long. Something about slackpacking makes the hike have a bit less meaning. Yes, we’re making our way toward Maine, but it kind of feels like checking a mileage box instead of being on an adventure. But, I’d rather get the miles done than not.
We passed a few section hikers on the trail, but didn’t see any thru-hikers today. Overall, the day was pretty unremarkable. It wasn’t as hot as I’d expected and it seemed it had rained recently, so that probably cooled things down a bit.
Before we knew it, we were at Blackhorse Gap. It was early afternoon and we still had the rest of the day ahead of us. We would have continued walking, but road crews were working on the Blue Ridge Parkway and our ride wouldn’t be able to pick us up further down trail.
Anyway, it was time for us to eat lunch, so we headed back to 3 Lil’ Pigs. I got a ⅓ rack of ribs and was a happy customer. Later that evening, we decided to have a date night and watched Inside Out 2 in a movie theater with reclining chairs. Overall, the day was a great mix of hiking and town fun.
And that’s day 75.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.