Appalachian Trail

Mt. Roger Partnership Shelter
to
Hwy U.S. 11, Va. 683

I left work just a little early on September 12, the weather was beautiful and the forecast was good. Slo-Bear and I headed for Virginia's Partnership shelter, located at Mt. Roger HQ. The drive was about 3 hours but we arrived about 2 hours before night fall. (Click on any of the images for a larger view)

Mt Roger Shelter Slo-Bear at Partnership Shelter Dinner at Partnership

We were very surprise how nice the shelter was. This has the be Hilton of trail shelters. It has a shower that is heated! The hot water was not working when we were there, but WOW! Nice toilet, sink in back, tooooo cool. Cooked dinner, made a fire and was ready to bed down. The temp fell to about 45 degrees. It was perfect. Had my first experience of shelter mice. Even in this nice shelter you could here them scurring all night. Note: Bring earplugs!
Elevation of Hike
This is the elevation map of the hike.
(Click on image for readable picture)
To the right is the official map of the area we were going to hike. The plan was to start at Partnership Shelter, spend the first night at Chatfield Shelter, spend the next night at Davis Path Shelter, then get pick up about 5 miles down the trail on a secondary road.
 Map of the hike
The next day, the weather was perfect! We were ready to hit the trail!
We hiked at a pretty liesurely pace. Enjoying the day, and the views. There was one spot when the woods opened up and there was great view of Brushy Mountain. There just happen to be a seat built out of logs. Way to go Trail Crew! I only saw three groups of hikers all day. One group was a couple just taking a short day hike. I met one hiker, trailname Linguini, who was one of the first Northern hikers headed to Georgia. He had started in June when Mt. Katahdin had opened, and was trying to hike the AT in 100 Days. He said he was averaging 24 miles a day!
Arrived at Louis Chatfield Shelter about 2 pm. We had planned to stay there for the night. I talked Slo-Bear into trying for the next shelter. It was 7 miles away. I thought we could make it. Note: Always try to stay with a plan. So, we took a break filled our bottles with fresh water and off we went.

Here is me, late in the day. The sun would be down in about another 2 hours and we were about 5 miles from the next shelter! I was pretty darn tired. By the time we made it to hwy 11, the sight of the resturant and motel, was just too much for us. I broke and wept like a baby. My first night on the trail and I stayed at a motel! It actually turn out to be awesome. The shower was great, and the hotel clerk said he would shuttle us back to Mt. Roger HQ tommorrow morning. We decided to get the car, and hike from Massie Gap. That is the next trail story. I slepted like a rock.

Back

Email