On the trail, there are just those days that kick your ass. You’re dragging, the hills seem way steeper than the map shows, you trip an abnormal number of times, the water sources are spread out too far, your knee pain is flared up, or you just don’t feel like hiking. These days seem to happen once a week or so and you just come to accept them.

Then, on the other hand, there are days like last thursday. Wednesday night, I had set up camp behind the general store in Catawba. The owner of this quaint mom and pop shop welcomed hikers and invited them to stay on the property. I woke up at 6AM on thursday, stumbled into the general store and had one of my best breakfasts on the trail. Two homemade sausage and egg biscuits and a 16 ounce coffee. These werent your standard McDonalds biscuits (which i rather enjoy). These suckers were flaky, buttery and just plain perfect. The day was off to a good start. After packing up, i had a 1.5 mile walk up a rather steep highway. Not wanting to exend my energy, i figured i’d try to hitch. After about 5 minutes of cars zooming by i decided to give up. I crossed back over so i could walk against oncoming traffic. Not but 15 seconds after i gave up, a car going in the opposite direction that i was going pulled off and a gangly college kid with a high voice and buddy holly glasses hollered ”need a ride?” Awesome. I definitely didnt want to hike up this narrow road facing cars and trucks doing 60+ MPH. Once he dropped me off, i had a relatively easy walk up to McAfee Knob, an absolute highlight of the trip. Check out the picture at
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0406/excerpt1.html
I hung out up there with some buddies for an hour and a half before heading on down the trail. i stopped off at a spring to replenish my water when i met a trail crew out of roanoke doing some boundary maintenance. The leader came over and offered me some fresh golden delicious apples from their cooler. Ahhh, fresh fruit; a total rarity on the trail. The day just keeps getting better. i moved on down from the spring when i came across a deer in the middle of the trail. It was unfazed by my clomping down the trail. I stopped within 20 feet of it and it just looked at me, wagged its tail and kept on eating right next to the trail. I had to move past it and when i did, i barely moved 10 feet to get out of my way. Thankfully these lands are protected from hunting, because this doe wouldnt stand a chance against the men in orange vests. After i left the doe i moved on to the even cooler site, Tinker Cliffs. It’s similar to McAfee with its rock overhangs but it extends for a half mile. I chose a nice ledge, plunked down and caught a little shut-eye in the afternoon sun. I couldn’t possibly imagine anything I’d rather have been doing at that moment. I woke up from my nap and decided it was time to move on and set up camp. The destination that evening was Lambert’s Meadow campsite, a small grassy area adjacent to a stream on the backside of Tinker Mountain. After scaring up 4 more deer on my descent, i arrived and set up camp. While i was setting up, yet another deer wandered through camp eating grass. A couple buddies arrived and we had an enjoyable evening of hanging out, eating and chatting before the warm, breezy night came to a close. A lovely ending to a perfect day.

While the days spent wandering the woods are overall positive, they generally have some element of difficulty and struggle. Rare are days such as the one i had last thursday. When they do occur, you feel revitalized and all the wear and tear of the trail difficulties evaporate, reminding you of just why exactly you decided to tackle this ridiculous undertaking.