Today's warmth continued into the night. No long john bottoms or socks. I unzipped my sleeping bag and draped it over me and zipped it only toward morning. I started hiking at 6:30am, heading uphill for 4-miles, often on a rocky trail. The top of the climb ended at the Dragon' s Tooth. Going down, the Appalachian Trail abandoned common sense and descended on narrow ledges and steep drops on wet rocks. The logic for this ridiculous route escaped me. Slow, frustrating going but at least I didn't get hurt. My left thigh hurt for the rest of the day. At the bottom of the descent, I reached a paved road, VA 624. A woman was discharging two hikers. She volunteered to give a ride for 0.4 miles to the Catawba Grocery. I gladly accepted and soon downed two fully loaded hot dogs (with fresh onion no less) and a pint of chocolate milk. I walked back to the trail and headed uphill. After 4-miles of often rocky hiking on a ridge, the AT dropped down to a paved highway and a parking lot for day hikers bound for McAfee Knob. The knob is one of the most photographed spots on the AT. I headed uphill feeling thirsty. In a mile, I reached the Johns Spring shelter and got two liters of blessed water. Uphill for two more miles to the knob. Just before I arrived, a storm rolled in for 15 minutes of drenching rain. The attached photo shows yours truly on the cliff. Then downhill for a mile through scrub oaks to the Campbell shelter, my home for the night. I ate dinner at 5 pm, then fetched water and visited with the half-dozen other hikers at the shelter. Today's miles - 17.0. Total miles - 712.1.
