Awesome day!

Day 42 - 5/26/10
What an awesome day, in every way during every inch of the trail. The only bad part today was "waking up". I put that in quotes because I barely slept. I realized in the morning how much I disliked the shelter I stayed at. For one the name was just odd: Pickle Branch. Second, it was a .3 mile walk off the trail. And third, it was angled in such a way that hardly had any light could make it inside. This also created a mildew smell. Let's just say it wasn't my favorite shelter.

After I got moving though my day was fantastic. After many days of rain the weather finally turned around. There was some early morning fog, but it cleared quickly into blue skies the rest of the day. The beginning was a nice uphill grade, and I made it to this awesome spot called Dragon's Tooth at about 10:30. It was .1 off the trail, and well worth it. It's a giant stone monolith, at least 20 ft. tall. I didn't climb it, but I did get some nice photos. After a quick snack I left, and the trail took me down the other side of the mountain on some very steep downhill. At this point it also changed from hiking into serious rockclimbing. Really difficult to maneuver down, but it made me realize something. The mind gets so focused on each step that miles go by much faster. You're not thinking about anything but the next step, at least I wasn't. So that's one nice thing about hard parts.

After I made it down to the road and crossed it, not even 10 ft. into the woods was a big box of trail magic. It had obviously been there a few days, but there was still a few things I was able to enjoy. I ate a juicy orange and took a berry gatorade for the road. Jen I think you're right, it feels like I've been getting something almost every day now. Hope my luck lasts!

I continued on and the sun really started getting brutal, at least 80's, so I was sweating a lot. But the climb wasn't too bad and I was able to put in decent miles. I passed through some farmland, took pictures of cows, and just enjoyed the VA scenery. Then I come to another road and cross over into the next series of mountains. I started getting excited because McAfee's Knob was only a few miles away at this point, and is supposedly one of the best views on the AT. For the past few days I'd been concerned about not getting a view because of all the bad weather, but it worked out nicely. On my way up I passed a couple and said hello. I asked how the view up there was, and the girl gave me a very excitable answer, then added, "We just got engaged!" I asked, "Way up there?" referring to McAfee's, and they both said yes. The girl was just beaming. I said congrats, and then headed onward. Thinking back I wish I got a picture of them. Oh well.

When I made it to the top I was in awe. The view was spectacular. What an awesome thing to experience, I'm jealous of the locals. There were actually two up there, both girls. When I reached the top one was sitting and the other was standing up, belting out this amazing song. It sounded like a Southern gospel song, sort of like Amazing Grace. It was the perfect thing to hear as I came over the crest to the viewspot, and made the whole thing just that much better. She finished, and I told her how much I enjoyed the singing. Then I asked them to take my picture, they did, and now I've got 5-6 awesome photos of me on the cliff edge there.

They left, and so I sat up there myself just admiring the view, amazed at how beautiful nature can be. After I had my fill I headed down to the shelter only 3/4 of a mile away. I made it in at 5:30, putting me at 17 miles for the day. No one else was here so I spread all my stuff out, cooked up some mashed potatoes, and even treated myself to the rare evening cup of coffee. I'm sitting here now, on the ledge of the shelter, enjoying my coffee, a pipe for the bugs, and some tunes from my iPod. What a life, eh? I feel so good, this day has been amazing, and I don't want it to end. Tomorrow I'll be in Daleville, hope my package is too! I may decide to stay in town if it's not there, we'll see.

Total miles: 703.7