Total trail mileage: 598.2 (approx)
Starting location: Laurel Creek
Ending location: Brushy Mountain (approx)
Weather: clear and sunny all day, 35 degrees in the morning, 40-60
degrees during the day, breezy all day
I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=37.154377,+-80.953729
Well, I am apparently not done with the chilly temperatures yet. It
got kinda cold last night. Not as cold as earlier in the trip (as I
don't think it even got below freezing), but it was much colder than
it has been recently. I woke up in the middle of the night and had to
inflate my pad to put in the hammock.
The plus side is that the temperatures were perfect for hiking today.
It wasn't too cold so I didn't need a jacket once I warmed up. It
wasn't too hot so I didn't sweat much and didn't need much water.
It also helped that the trail today was great. Yes, there were plenty
of ups and downs, but they were all gradual and not terribly large
elevation changes. And, the trail didn't have too many rocks or
roots. The road walk wasn't even that bad either.
So, between the weather and the trail conditions, I made good time and
didn't tire at all. I hit the shelter and decided to go a couple
extra miles to make tomorrow a little easier. As I hit the ridgeline,
I came to an open patch cut due to power lines and decided to set up
camp near there in the trees. I am somewhere along Brushy Mountain,
but Brushy Mountain has become like Deep Gap, Low Gap, or Sassafras
Gap...there have been a ton of them. So, it is almost like saying I
am in the woods.
I had plenty of time to set up my hammock and make dinner and tea on a
rock at the clearing prior to the sunset. Unfortunately the sunset
wasn't the best as the sun went down behind a mountain, but it was
still a great view of all the surrounding farmland. And, I can watch
it from my hammock :)
I filled up my first memory card of my camera today (I have another
with me). That is now 8gb of photos that I haven't had a chance to
upload to the internet (all of the photos on my blog so far are from
my completely inadequate cell phone camera).
I found a way to silence the rattling while I walk of the fuel
canister within my jetboil cup. All I needed to do was wrap the
canister in a bandana. D'oh, I wish I came up with that sooner.
Another side effect of the colder temperatures is that it makes
chocolate consumption easier. I tend to throw a couple candy bars or
granola bars in my pocket to eat while walking. Well, ever since it
became warm, doing so with chocolate was a no go. The chocolate would
become liquid so it would need to stay buried in the pack.
Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that I really lucked out with the
weather the night before. According to the forecasts leading up to
Friday, they showed thunderstorms and showers through the night and
during one of the days. Well, we got rain at night, but only at
night, and I was safely protected in the weatherproof shelter (one of
the only shelters on the AT with 4 walls and a door). I can't believe
how many days it has been that I have been able to avoid rain.
It is about 28 miles from here to Pearisburg. I am hoping to cover
about 20 tomorrow, which will leave just 8 to do the next day. That
would allow me to get into Pearisburg early in the day so there is
enough time to properly address the Chinese Buffet.
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