Day 71 - 5/11

Daily mileage: 20.0
Total trail mileage: 922.9
Starting location: Baldface Mountain
Ending location: Skyland Resort
Weather: cloudy all day, rain from late morning on, 40 degrees in the
morning, 38-45 degrees during the day, breezy at times

I am at
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=38.596058,+-78.442471

Last night we had a large visitor around the campsite. It was walking
around pretty close to the tents and made a lot of noise.
Unfortunately it was just a deer.

It is mid-May, right? It wasn't that far above freezing all day.
And, it was raining. It was similar to the week at the bottom of
North Carolina (mid-March), but this time I wasn't walking through
snow. The day started out dry, so I could at least pack up my hammock
before it started to rain.

We stopped at the Wayside for lunch and to warm up a bit. At that
point we decided to go the full 20 miles to Skyland. The shelter here
is much different than the others. It is a 4-walled structure
including private rooms with an attached shower, beds, pillows, and
sheets. There is even a restaurant in the next building over. Other
than the price, they should duplicate this "wilderness" experience
elsewhere along the trail.

Tomorrow will again include breakfast at the restaurant and then a few
miles in the afternoon. Hopefully the rain clears off.