Blacksburg, VA (USA)

Woke up on Blacksburg (still in Red Carpet Inn on Main Street) and, after a long day of spreading the word about our company, I headed north out of town so I could squeeze in another hike. I arrived at the trailhead (VA-42) at 1545 - it was partly cloudy and a balmy 70 degrees. I was surprised to encounter a Hokie student parking in the same spot. At first, I thought I'd have a hiking buddy. But a few minutes into the conversation it became clear that he was a regular trail runner - he planned to climb up the mountain and be back before dark. I watched him race up the first few hills and he soon disappeared into the woods (oh well). The trail took me across rolling meadows, through rhododendron bushes, over several ridges and into two valleys with rushing creeks. I made pretty good time (SOBO) to the turnaround point and ran into my would-be hiker friend again! He had spent some time enjoying the view of the fire-red sky as the sun set behind the mountains in West Virginia. Since it was already twilight, I didn't tarry for the view and headed back down immediately. I ran into some deer (not afraid of me) as I neared the bottom of the knob. I could hear the peepers in the little ponds nearby (I guess Spring is really here?). It soon got really dark. I was able to make it almost all the way back without my headlamp (night vision with white blazes versus whiteout with flashlight) but eventually had no choice but to use it to avoid bogs, fences, rocks. Made it to my car by 1915 after finishing around 7.5 miles. The temps had only dropped into the mid 60s, so I was sweating a lot. Headed north to set up for another hike tomorrow afternoon (after some work in the morning). Happy I can make tracks on this little trip...  AT Today = 3.60 miles / G.T. AT = 868.78 miles