Wafford Cabin Trail - Etna 8/17/10 26 miles

We actually were both wide awake this morning at 4:30am! With the fly off the tent, we were stunned with the intensity of the bright stars in the sky! We got out by 5:30am. It was a beautiful morning walk. The sun had just began to light up the horizon, but just on the mountains' edges. The mountian tops glowed with pinks and oranges, with the sky still dark and full of stars. Like nothing I had ever seen!! We walked for an hour and passed Kiwi, Meander and Bacon as they were just beginning to get started and out of their tents. We all laughed and they were shocked that we were going to early. We were usually the last ones to begin walking. We continued on and took a short break with snack after six miles. We walked on and were able to do 11 miles by 10am! Woohoo! At our next break, we met a section hiker, Jean, and talked with him for a while. He was the first person we had met who also shared our Virginia, so we had a lot to talk about. We walked past many cattle, black Angus with cowbells on. We heard the bells from a distance and did not know what to expect, especially when we're not used to hearing loud noised other than birds, wind and water. Chris actually thought it was techno music from a distance..hehe. The Trinity Alps wer eso beautiful, very remote and reminded of snow-less Sierras. They were very rocky and rugged and some peaks were mildly spotted with snow. Our Eric the Black guidebook showed that we would have minimal climbs today. Wrong! It was most definitely a day of climbing up and down and up again. We reached the trail head at the road at around 6pm. Shew, what a day! Fean, Kiwi, Bacon and Meander all arrived within minutes of us . We knew when we reached the road that it would be a difficult hitch. About three cars passed in an hour's time. They either waved or stopped and talked, but were unable to give us a ride due to their cars being packed and full or going in the opposite direction. Finally, a huge 15 passenger van pulled up. They hopped out and informed us that they were heading home to Etna after a day of rafting with their kids and would give us a ride. They already had 13 passengers though-10 very young children including one in a carseat and three adults, and a dog! They all laughed, shuffled around, and the six of us piled in with our huge packs in our laps! what a trip! They were such a nice family and had the CUTEST kids ever! They talked with us and then gave us a tour around the very small, Damascus-like town and then dropped us off at te Motel Etna. The mom (cannot remember her name,) told me that her kids had whispered to her, "Mom, can they come home with us and have dinner?" How cute! We all rolled out of the van. Chris and I stuck with the plan, saved our money and headed to the RV Park to camp, with intentions of staying in the motel tomorrow and taking a full zero! Talk about having some will power! It was hard not to just give in and sleep in a real bed. It was now about 8pm as we set up camp and showered. We both agreed that we felt like we were jet-lagged from being awake for so long and exerting so much energy walking. But, it was such a good day! Met some more amazing people and got into town! -KB