Reed's Gap

16 April 2001 ~ Reed's Gap ~ 15.3 miles

Well, now I've done the James River to Rockfish Gap. Yay, me.

Jesus, was it cold this morning. I thought I might get up early? I had to get up early to reclaim my warmth. The wind had shifted so it was blowing directly into the tent. Once I got going, my hands were so cold (I had thin polar fleece glove liners, which I was wearing at the time) that they hurt. I put on everything I could, including tying my bandana over my face to prevent windburn. Ultimately, I just went as fast as I could. I did take a few minutes to check out the views from The Priest, since it was so clear today. The descent was very long, and there were a lot of points at which to do this. A couple of them were on the east side of the mountain where there was no wind. It's unique for me to be on top of a mountain at 8am. I rarely camp up that high, and I never make it to the top by then. The morning light on the land below, all green and fertile, was stunning.

Once I crossed the Tye River and started to climb, I was insufferably hot and did an impromptu change to shorts and a tee-shirt on the trail. Thank goodness no one came by because there's no where to hide with no leaves on the trees and this involves getting naked! Again, the climb was long and there were some nice views.

I saw more people today than I had previously on this trip. People with backpacks, even. I'm confused by this since Punchbowl is less than a mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway and I was there alone on a Friday night. Saturday was a stunningly nice day, and yet I just saw that one guy at Cowcamp and the two people on top of Cole Mountain on Sunday. I saw a couple people with daypacks, I think, but I don't really remember because they almost never talk to backpackers. Only people going long distance will stop and ask you what's ahead or who you are or whatever. To a day hiker, backpackers are smelly and dirty and vaguely suspicious.

In general, it was really empty out there. More space for me!