Va 600
M=20.0; C=476.0
Coming off the Virginia Creeper, up to Buzzard's Rock and White Top was one long tough climb. The legs burned in a good way, and the rhythm lost to two days of trail town was kicking back in.
Afternoon was giving way to early evening. Initially I thought I might have enough left in me to push for Thomas Knob S less than five miles up. The weight of all that town food and a restocked full pack had me thinking otherwise. I was hiking with Drifter (in photo), and by the time we got to Deep Gap, it was time to stop for a water break down the blue blaze to the spring.
Deep Gap used to have a shelter along the same blue blaze. It was removed due to overuse, and the area was left fallow to allow regeneration of the site. We made a lite dinner, deciding to stealth camp there instead of pushing for what we suspected to be a full shelter. Pigpen and two others camped up nearby.
Cold that night -- burrito just warm enough to sleep as the deer rustled by. After the last three nights, there was no way I wasn't going to sleep well.