Nov. 8-9 — McAffe Knob, VA with J-bo

11.9.14 — McAffe Knob, VA: about 9 miles hiked on camping trip

I’d been on just one day hike (Old Rag in late September) since California, two months of almost no hiking. I needed a hike. Conveniently, my cousin J-bo had a weekend, too, when he could sneak away from the expecting-twins wife before the ever-approaching big day. Lucky for him, as well, McAffe Knob — a hike I’d heard about from a group of James Madison undergrads while doing Old Rag — was just half an hour from his place in Blacksburg. I had a four-hour drive from DC.

The trip, while short, was most certainly worth it.

We arrived to an overflowing parking lot on Route 311 less than 10 minutes apart — not bad timing, at all, considering our itineraries. At first I couldn’t believe how packed the lot was in addition to hundreds of cars stacked alongside the road. But as we started our hike — described online as 4.4 miles to the Knob but by sign as just 3.9 — I quickly realized that this was THE HIKE for Virginia Tech students. Half of the day hikers we passed who were descending wore Hokies gear (I guess they’ve rightfully given up on their football team and decided to hike; good decision!). That, of course, was the negative of the ascent and something I’d warn any day hiker doing the Knob during the school year about — you’re not going to have any peace or quiet. The trail was crowded.

But after a relatively uneventful and easy two-hour hike — the elevation gain was 1,700 feet but didn’t even seem that great — we emerged from the still-red-and-orange-covered trees to a large rocky outcrop, the Knob. As advertised, the views to the east and north were spectacular. Even in the late-afternoon light, we could probably see 20 to 30 miles of hills interlaced with mountains, made even prettier than usual by the sunlight reflecting from the west. I was a little disappointed that there was no open view westward, but quickly got over it.

We got our photo taken at the main popular outlook and then continued walking on open rocks that neatly looped around the knob, providing a variance of views without one having to reenter the woods. We settled on a large, flat — and unoccupied — rock ledge for dinner. The sun was almost down, and as I had figured, with it had gone most of the people. We had the place to ourselves.

Well, we and the wind. And cold.

Despite putting on all my layers — polypro, AMC longsleeve, lightweight fleece and 800-down jacket — I was cold. Like usual, my hands (err, fingers) felt it the most. Thankfully, they were still working enough for me to get out my newly purchased bear box and remove my food. I also got my little stove going, filling the pot full of water to boil for my mountain dinner and J-bo’s macaroni and beef-pork-and-chicken? hot dogs (seriously).

Well, the water took a LONG TIME to boil. This was probably due to a few factors: 1) The wind, although I did move the stove to a more protected spot; 2) The amount of water we were trying to boil; 3) And, finally, the fact that the gas canister was on its last legs. Yes, I had underestimated how much gas it had left, and in my effort to be as lightweight as possible (my pack weighed just 22.5 pounds!) I didn’t bring another one. During the wait, we did pushups to stay warm. We talked about as long as we could about the view. We ate all our dessert items — for me, that consisted of about four Reese’s, a Snickers and a bunch of J-bo’s peanut butter M&Ms. And I checked about 13 times on the water.

When it looked to, finally, be as close to boiling as water can be, I called it and dumped a bunch in my dinner pouch. J-bo then poured his Mac and hot dogs into the almost-boiling water. About 11 minutes later, he noticed that the flame was out. The gas canister was empty. Thankfully, it had lasted just long enough to cook his food.

Dinner was delectable, even if I was shivering as I shoveled down bite after bite.

By the time we were finished, it was pitch black save for the lights in Roanoke, VA (population: 98,465) to the east of us. I packed up things with my cold fingers and prepared for some night hiking. We had at least 0.6 miles to our campsite.

The hike down was pretty cool. Night hiking by oneself can seem a little creepy, but doing it with another person was just plain fun. There was no imagining of bears or other large creatures. Our headlamps were strong, and the Appalachian Trail’s white blazes weren’t hard to pick out on the switchbacking, descending trail. It didn’t seem like 0.6 miles before we reached a clearing and noticed a handful of other tents. We had reached the Pig’s Rest campsite.

By that point, I was warm. Being cold was an afterthought. After a fairly quick tent setup and without a book (unlike the smarter J-bo), I retreated to my sleeping bag at 7:30pm! I was out not too long after that and only woke up a few times during the night.

I set an alarm for 5:30am because, being so close to the Knob, I figured, we’ve got to check out sunrise! Plus, it was on our way back; it wasn’t out of the way. After silently but efficiently breaking down camp in the dark — I’m pretty sure we didn’t wake anyone — we carefully hiked down a tenth of a mile on a trail the sign told us ended at water. At first, we couldn’t find it, but then noticed a pool below some wooden panels. We treated it and then got back on the main trail. Soon, I was down to my base layers as we ascended back to the Knob.

We arrived up top about 15 minutes before sunrise, and there were already a few people huddled under blankets and in sleeping bags taking in the views. I layered back up and we enjoyed an incredible sky that — over the course of the next hour and a half — featured many layers of different clouds and, occasionally, the sun. I’ve always noticed that clouds make looking at a sky infinitely cooler, and this was no exception. And it wasn’t that cold – I wouldn’t say I was warm, but I was comfortable enough to sit, shoot photos, eat some breakfast, and overall enjoy the amazing scenery. We were temporarily joined by a few folks who had hiked up the 3.9 miles that morning — impressive! — and then quickly headed back down. We had much more peace and tranquility than a day before.

Eventually, we decided it was time to pack up, and enjoyed an easy hike down. We did the final 2 miles on the fire road as opposed to the main trail we had taken on the way up, and the going couldn’t have been easier. It was smooth, the grade very moderate.

We returned to the parking lot at 10:07 a.m., a short but very enjoyable hike completed.

This was also a significant hike because it was my first with my Gossamer Gear Mariposa Ultralight backpack. And I LOVE IT. While another gas canister and maybe an additional layer would have been nice, I fit all I needed quite easily into the pack, it weighed just 22.5 pounds, and I barely felt it. The pack was also quite comfortable and features a handful of mesh outer pockets for easy access.

This pack is undoubtedly going to make camping trips more enjoyable for me. I can’t wait for the next one.