Saturday 11 July 1974, the old AT

 Virginia's AT was in constant flux.  Trail RELOS were common and many times you really didn't know your location.  That was important for camps, water and even tops of mountains. For example, Mt Rogers, the tallest mountain in Virginia is no longer on the AT.

But on this date we (Don, Ralph and me) hiked something like 20 miles to get to Walker Mtn LT (built in 1960) arriving at 530 PM. This was day four after leaving Damascus, VA. At 9pm, we moved to sleep in the nearby fire tower.  The first pic is from Ralph.

Here is the USGS map from the Seventies showing the trail route.

Today, the AT doesn't even reach the ridge.

First a quote from my book. 

On the 11th of July, I wrote a letter to my parents reporting a 20.2 mile day and a total of 492.4 miles.  That night we slept in the Walker Mountain Fire Tower (3,900 feet).  We could have stayed in the LT, but a once in a lifetime chance to sleep in a tower was something not to miss.  Also had a chance to pee off the Tower to see a long continuous stream of pee, a dream of every young boy.  The water source at the LT was a boxed cistern, often used in the south to collect rainwater off the roof of the shelter and store in a vault. The trail has since be RELOed away from this scenic spot to the west; shame since the mountain was the trail route from 1955-1980.

Details from my Journal.

11 July Thursday

20.2 miles

Cruising except for the last 8 miles.  Arrive @ LT 530 (not bad) and @ 9:00 decided to sleep in the fire tower.  Never have done it before.  It may turn out to be a cool thing.  A couple of times I hauled ass on the trail or as Ralph puts it "Bristow Overdrive."  On Rt. 11 there was an Exxon Gas Station & we bought ice cream and junk.  It helped me get up Walker Mtn, (in the rain of course).  I couldn't find Dad's Church because of a trail relocation.  But I wasn't going to walk any more than I have to.

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From Google Streetview, this might be the gas station on Rt 11 where I bought the snacks.

Here is the trail map and ATC Guide.  Like south, I combined several guidebooks to just have northbound hiking and cover the entire 504.8 miles+/-.

Much better map, eh?  The trail has since moved away from Walker Mountain to the west to cross the Hoston River Valley.  This was a massive RELO.

It took us 7 days to hike from Damascus to Pearisburg (my next maildrop) on the AT.