Virginia Triple Crown: Day 1

Many of you reading this post may be familiar with horse racing’s a Triple Crown; bestowed if there is a single-season winner of three premier horse races that occur during a six week span beginning on the first Saturday in May and ending on the first Saturday in June. The races (the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes) differ in length and track conditions. Those characteristics, coupled with a relatively short 2 week span between races, make the Triple Crown one of the rarest achievements in sport. In fact, there have been only 13 Triple Crown winners in over 100 years of thoroughbred racing.

So why am I writing about the Triple Crown and what does it even have to do with the theme of this blog? Simply put, it was the inspiration to complete the hiking version of the Triple Crown in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwest Virginia, USA. This version of the Triple Crown is a 35 mile (56 km) loop hike that features three iconic natural features along the Appalachian Trail: Dragon’s Tooth, McAfee Knob, and Tinker Cliffs.

Keeping with the “triple” theme, my hiking partner Morgan and I planned a 3-day, 2-night hike where each day we will hike different distances (11, 13, and 11 miles) and experience steep climbs, inspiring vistas, and jarring descents along the challenging trail profile.

There are several factors to consider when planning a multi-day hike. Since everything needed has to be carried, it is imortant to pack what you know you’ll need for the conditions you expect to encounter, plus some things you hope you won’t need (e.g. first aid kit and rain gear). Weight and volume (based on pack size) will certainly be factors that affect your individual pack kit. Another very important consideration, especially when it comes to route planning and campsites, is access to water. In my opinion, you should plan to consume about 4 liters of water per day. Nobody wants to carrry that much water (because each liter weighs 1 kg / 2.2 lbs), so the ability to filter water from natural sources along the route is critical.

After researching the route, I learned that there were no water sources on the North Mountain Trail. So, it was a logical decision to make this our first day objective since we could “camel up” by fully hydrating before the hike even began, then consume the 2.5 liters we would be carrying through the rest of the day.

Although our first day began with a 3.5 hour drive to get to the trailhead, it was a opportunity for Morgan and I to get better acquainted since we hadn’t really spent a lot of time together. The drive was quite scenic and we had some pleasant conversation as we shared stories and insights.

Morgan is a tattoo artist, so as someone who has no tattoos, I was naturally interested in how he got into the business and how he learned the craft. For his part, he learned of my own background and interests. Even though we are 18 years apart in age and have vastly different backgrounds and experiences, we quickly fell into an easy conversational cadence.

Upon arriving at our start point for the day, the Catawba Valley Trailhead, we quickly geared up and set out for a challenging 11 mile hike. For the first two miles we climbed from the valley floor to the ridge atop the North Mountains where we intersected the North Mountain Trail. After a nice lunch break we continued southbound for 8 miles along the ridge line trail that passed through a healthy forest of dispersed trees, presenting nice sight lines through the foliage the distant hills to both the east and west.

From our vantage point on the North Mountain ridge, we caught a glimpse of Roanoke, Virginia 15 miles in the distance. At another point we were even able to look east across the Catawba Valley and make out the distinctive rock shelf of McAfee Knob high up on the parallel ridge line that we plan to reach at sunrise on day 3 of this trip.

Maintaining a comfortable pace, we took our time while experiencing a surprisingly unlevel trail along the ridge line. Even when we got to the point where we would drop back down into the valley floor campsite, we both remarked that it seemed like we were spending more time going up than down.

After one final mile of steep descent off of the ridge line, we reached the end of our first long day of hiking. We were definitely ready to relax in camp and eat some dinner, before turning in for the night!

Once we found a suitably level spot for our two tents, we quickly set up camp. Then it was onto the task of refilling our water bottles by filtering water from a nearby stream, cooking dinner (I had chicken pesto pasta, while Morgan enjoyed a vegan burrito bowl). Our bodies refueled, it was now time to rest and recover the trail ahead.

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