Slackpacking Trip - Day 1

[finally had a chance to get away for a vacation (a real one, not just moving or squeezing fun into a 72 hour window) - I'd told folks at work that I would be unavailable for two weeks and had two or three ideas for how to use the time: Space A military flight, driving tour to see National Parks left unvisited on my list or hiking on the Appalachian Trail - I chose the latter option and planned to leave my computer at home - I made a decision early that this would be a Slackpacking trip (staying in hotels) and not a camping trip - after a busy week, I woke up today at 0700, packing and filling up the gas tank, I was headed out on my way by 0830 - I used I-495, I-66 and US-29 to get to Charlottesville - it was a very scenic route and would probably be the best way to go if any of the kids ever went to the University of Virginia (!) - continued on US-29 towards Lynchburg and ended up switching to US-460 there - had lunch at Chick-fil-A around 1200 and then drove down VA-122 (across Smith Mountain Lake) to the Booker T. Washington National Monument (1300) - I'd never been to this park before, but I had been to Tuskeegee Institute in Alabama - the self-made African American educator came from humble beginnings on a farm in rural Virginia and it was inspiring to learn about the challenges he had overcome - there were animals and old buildings (farm) to see - I also took a nice hike (probably about 2 miles), enjoying a nice breeze and the greenery - from there (1430), I drove west on VA-122 and north on VA-116, trying to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway - this proved to be quite difficult, since there were only a few access points east of Roanoke - in a preview of the plan for hiking the Appalachian Trail, I used my road atlas and my cell phone (poor signal, actually) to find places where I could try to catch the trail - instead, I wasted around two hours (VA-116, VA-24, Roanoke, etc.) - ultimately, though, I found an access point on VA-24 east of Vinton - the drive north was nice (saw lots of motorcycles) and I looked for signs of the Appalachian Trail (white blazes) - it took some time, but I eventually located it around VA-43 (east of Buchanan) - first, I looked for a map - many of the Parkway facilities were closed and the open gift shops didn't have maps - so I backtracked to a place I had seen where the trail crossed the road - I dropped of the bike I brought near mile marker 95 and then parked near mile marker 93 (1620) - I put on some old hiking boots and walked north - I encountered two hiking pairs (two women NOBO and two men SOBO) and enjoyed the great scenery - I learned a lot about the type of terrain and challenges I would face - when I reached VA-43, I was going to backtrack, however, my boots had started to fall apart - so I limped back to where I had left the bike (using the roads, thinking about hitchhiking) - rode back to my car and switched shoes - biked again about a mile south of the car (mile marker 92) and hiked back - finished around 1820 - I got back in my car and headed west on VA-43 - I picked up a hiker who wanted a ride into Buchanan (Yancy = trail name "So Heavy") - he gave me a lot of tips for hiking the trail - I got on I-81 and headed south - when I arrived a Daleville (north of Roanoke), I stopped for dinner at Bojangles on US-220 (1900) - I found a Howard Johnsons Hotel right where the A.T. crosses the highway and determined they had a great rate for hikers - I drove south a few miles (to intersection of US-220 and US-221) to shop for hiking supplies and food at Walmart - fixed my boots with duck tape! - soaked in the tub (a little sore) - planned the next day of hiking and posted photos to Facebook - bed at 2200 - overall, I was able to complete 3.15 new miles of the Trail today (not counting backtracks, biking or the Booker T. trail I hiked) - factoring in previous day-hikes on the Appalachian over the past 20 years (roughly totaling 4.5 miles), my Grand Total on the A.T. is now 7.65 miles]