Sunday, June 26th

Four Pines Hostel (704.5 mi) to Daleville, VA (730.3 mi)

Hiking Miles: 25.8

Total Ascent: 5,249 ft

Total Descent: 5,804.5 ft

Total Grade: 428.9 ft/mi

Steps: 63,788

Today was totally awesome!! After we all ate our ham and cheese sandwiches that we saved from the night before, we walked down to the grocery store where DT picked up our food the night before and purchased four subs to eat for when we reached McAfee Knob. We then called Mama Ozark to see if she would shuttle my pack ahead to the Super 8 Motel in Daleville where we would be staying for the evening, and she agreed. I gratefully gave her $20 and she donated it to the Four Pines Hostel. 

Before heading on trail, we added another Tramily member, Sydney McAdams, who Double Trouble had first met while in the Smokies, but never consistently connected with thereafter. His trail name was “Green” because he literally was dressed all in green. He recognized DT last night while we sat around the campfire, and he came over to chat with us.

The weather was warm and pleasant, with some light showers sprinkled in, and there were several day hikers mixed in on the trail (with it being a weekend day). We summited both McAfee Knob (by late morning) and subsequently Tinker Cliffs, my favorite of the big 3 (in the afternoon)..

We had dropped our packs on McAfee Knob and took our time in order to take in the breathtaking views. It was there that we ate our subs for lunch, washed down with beer we had left over from last night. We met a Trail Ranger named Bob at the top who was warning hikers to be careful on the Knob. He shared the sad story about a hiker who had fallen off the Knob to his death just a few weeks earlier. We had heard about the young man while we were on trail; he had gotten dizzy after sitting near the edge of the cliff, and when he went to get up, he toppled and fell 50 feet down.

We arrived in Daleville at 7:30 pm, checked into a Motel 8 (me, Stevie, DT and Green), and walked a half mile down the road to a restaurant called the “Three Little Pigs BBQ”. We reserved a large enough table for the seven of us while we waited for Smiles, his dad and brother to arrive. We started by ordering drinks. Green had ordered chocolate milk, and asked if refills were free (haha).

Shortly after, we were joined by Smiles, Smile’s dad Marty and younger brother Kai. The latter two had just flown into Baltimore from Utah (where they lived) for a stop in Washington DC. Tomorrow, they would start hiking along with Smiles for the week (to Rockfish Gap) before flying back home.

The Ostermillers were exceptionally nice and we had a great conversation over dinner. Marty was gracious to pay for everyone’s dinner while thanking us for hiking with (and watching over) Smiles while on trail. His generosity was greatly appreciated. The BBQ was delicious, and filling.

Game 6 of the Avalanche-Lightning Stanley Cup Championship was playing in the background on the restaurant’s television. The restaurant technically closed at 9 PM but they allowed us to stay until we finished our dessert at 10 pm. It was so nice achieving our goal of reaching Daleville to meet Smiles’ family by today!

After we left the BBQ joint, we said our good-byes to Smiles whereas he would be hiking on with his dad and brother for the week. But we knew we likely would rejoin them at some point along the way to Rockfish Gap (they were experienced hikers). We anticipated that it would be roughly one week before we met up with Teresa at Rockfish Gap to close our Virginia loop. Teresa is currently in Minnesota right now helping Christina with selecting her wedding dress, along with her mom Carla and sister Ciana.

Later that evening, Colorado won the Stanley Cup as we watched the last few minutes of the game and the follow-on celebration at the motel.