Woke up in a warm cabin bed. I slept well. After my zero day I was ready to get back on the trail. The person that contacted Mighty Blue to find out if he knew of anyone that was running a business while hiking the AT contacted me. So I called her back on my way back to the trail. She had some questions about the challenges regarding running a business and hiking at the same time. I shared my experiences with her. From being able to take phone calls to working from your phone and taking breaks off the trail do more involved computer work. We ended our call about the same time I arrived back at the trail. I told her if she had any additional questions to let me know. We agreed to keep in touch.
On the ride over I noticed the weather outside wasn’t looking great. It was raining and foggy. I thanked the shuttle driver, put on my rain jacket, and grabbed my stuff out of the back of his SUV and hit the trail. I was starting at Uncle Johnnys Hostel. I crossed the river and headed into the woods.
Shortly after entering the woods the trail takes you up onto rail road tracks. Then back down again into the woods. The elevation was flat for the first couple of miles. As I hiked I enjoyed the sounds of the river roaring behind me. The further I hiked back into the woods the softer the sounds of the river got until eventually completely fading away. Then a train came rumbling by. As it drifted in the distance I was greeted by the sounds of a rushing creek ahead of me.
While passing two section hikers they mentions about 12-15 thru hikers camped at the shelter they stayed at the previous night. They were all just a little ahead of me. I wondered who they might be and hoped I’d catch them soon. I passed an older gentlemen and chatted with him for a bit. His name was Telephone Man. He climbs telephone poles for a living. He said he was getting off the trail for good. This was his 3rd time trying and his body just couldn’t take it ?
The sun came out and the wet woods turned into a sauna. It seemed like the first half of the day was walking on flat ground next to these wonderful creeks with miniature waterfalls. I loved it. It was so relaxing and beautiful. I’d been hiking on the tops of mountains for so long with such little water it was nice to be back down below with the rushing creeks surrounding me.
Before I knew it was climbing back up a mountain again though. The higher I climbed the quieter the creek got behind me. As I cleared the mountain ridge on the other side I could hear yet another creek flowing. It’s like I was handed off from one creek to the next.
I came to a camp site right before a well known place called Beauty Spot. There were a few thru hikers camping there. A nice piped water source was just down the hill. I said hello to a guy that was outside his tent. He seemed friendly and said there was room for me.
I had only hiked 12 miles so far and wanted to do more. I got a late start and stopped and took a lot of photos and videos of the creeks earlier in the day. So it was getting pretty late. I checked my app to see how far the next tent and shelter spots were. They weren’t too far away but didn’t have any water sources. So I decided to call it a night.
I setup camp while meeting a couple there that were thru hiking together. Their names were Vitamin D and Zero Foot. They were from New Hampshire. Up State was in the other tent…though I didn’t meet him until the next morning. He was from, you guessed it, up state New York. I cooked dinner and settled into my tent.
I noticed the sun was setting. Beauty Spot was just a mile up the hill. I’ve heard its an amazing place to watch the sun set. I just didn’t have it in me to get dressed and hike another mile and back that evening. So I snapped some pics from my tent instead. It was still pretty. Just not what it would have been from the top of the mountain I’m sure. I’ll get the next one I thought.
My dinner consisted of instant potatoes, spam, beef jerky and a honey bun for dessert. The potatoes had “family size – serves 8” on the package. Well of course I ate the entire package. I’ve got to get my caloric intake up so I don’t wither away with all of this hiking.
I caught up on some work items before laying down to sleep. This was the first night I didn’t need my sleeping bag. It was warm out and I felt very comfortable without it.
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