Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 75 – In our wayside blazing era
9th october 2023
High Top Hut (1292) - Blackrock Hut (1313.4)
Daily miles: 21.4
Total miles: 1320.8
We had a lie in. Lemonhope was up early and had left by 6:30am because he’s not very good at sleeping in. I had an alarm set for 6:15am and I turned it off.
Although it’s not as cold as the night before I still didn’t want to get out of my bag. I did wonder if everyone else had already got up and gone and I missed it but I knew they are all too noisy for that to happen so I didn’t start moving until around 7am.
There was so much mouse activity last night. I could hear them scurrying around and all I could do was put my earplugs in and ignore them. In the morning there was a big pile of stuff and a whole load of mouse poop near my head. Gross.
A mouse made a nest and pooped all over it in the night
This man slept like this all night, with his boots on
We ate breakfast and the rest of the camp got up, there were 8 section hikers there (3 of whom stayed in the shelter) and they were asking us a lot of questions.
Morning at the shelter
I ended up leaving around 8:30am and took as casual stroll along the trail. I saw someone on the trail cutting back trees and I thought she heard me coming, but I said hello and she screamed. The noise she made was so funny I was chuckling to myself for a good while afterwards.
The thermometer read 6°C 42°F when I started hiking but now the sun was out, it was less windy, and I soon got too warm and had to take off my sleep legs - finally - and get back into my shorts. The others caught up to me and we hiked together for a while until Cal peeled off for a call of nature and May Queen got in front and Toe got behind and I stopped to massage my corn which is now causing me a lot of pain again, then Toe caught up and we both caught up to May Queen by a road crossing.
Wrapped up warm
It’s definitely not summer anymore
Semi views
Following May Queen
Leafy
Views
She was talking to a couple called Reset and No Joke. Reset looked familiar to me but I couldn’t quite place her. We spoke to them for a while. They are flip floppers and they are heading to the same wayside as us and to the same hut tonight so we’ll see them again.
Road walking to the wayside with the twins
Ridge lines
It’s me
It’s me again
Lol at Toe falling off the wall
We walked the road to the wayside as it was a little off the trail and arrived to find Lemonhope there having nabbed a table with outlets. We ordered food and it was definitely one of the best burgers I’ve had on trail. So greasy and good and a perfect amount of plastic American cheese to make it a really dirty burger. Unusual fries but really delicious. I could have eaten the whole thing over again but I probably wouldn’t have managed it in reality.
This was a goooood burger
No guns in the waysides. Only in America.
We then walked up to the camp store because we needed to supplement our resupply and the wayside only really had tourist tat. So we went and bought a few bits of food; the others had beers and I had a soda. When I came out of the store they had got their sleeping bags out and were laying on the grass. I couldn’t be bothered to get mine out so I wrapped my puffy around my legs.
A guy came out and said we could sit in the laundry room because it was warm in there; Lemonhope and I were keen but we were the only ones not in our sleeping bags.
To the camp store
Shoe beers
I can’t remember why they were holding their beers in their shoes
Life is all about keeping warm
We hung out on the grass for a while, with only 6 miles to go there was no sense of urgency, although we did want to get to the shelter before dark. What made us move was that it started raining. We would have been gone quicker but a couple came and spoke to us about hiking, and the guy had hiked the AT a couple of times before. Now it was getting really cold and the last thing I wanted to be was cold and wet.
Here comes the rain
We joined the trail again. The trail was really nice to walk on today, well maintained and a gentle grade, but to get to the shelter quicker we did about 3 miles on the road, in the rain, and then jumped back on the trail. We only really do road walks as a group generally. They aren’t that fun on your own.
A soggy road walk
Back on the trail it had stopped raining and warmed up slightly too. I don’t think I ever took my fleece off today. I took off my rain coat for a few hours but the fleece was adjusted with sleeves going up and down and the hood up and down, but it never got warm enough to take it off because as soon as you weren’t going uphill it was cold.
We hiked together to the shelter. Stopping briefly to climb up a big pile of rocks to see the view which was fun.
That trail was so nice
Sunset
The rock scramble to get here was fun
Worth it
The moment we found out the trail went AROUND the rock scramble and we scrambled when we didn’t have to
We arrived at the shelter just after 6pm which was such a treat to arrive in the light and have time to do things at the shelter in the light.
There were some other people there. One guy who I stayed at a shelter with back in Maine before the crossing of the Kennebec. I recognised his voice first because he has a really strong Boston accent. And I also remembered where I met Reset before, early on in the 100 mile wilderness she was standing in a patch of sun waiting for her dehydrated meal to heat up because they ran out of gas. I told her I thought that was a bad idea and now No Joke confirmed that it in fact was a bad idea!
Another day another shelter
No Joke made a fire and after eating our dinners, which for me was some turkey, cheese and crisps, and 2 cups of hot chocolate – which was a great idea and something I should have been doing before now – we sat around the fire and had a lovely evening chatting. It was really warm around the fire but very cold outside, although warmer than the previous couple of nights.
Hot chocolate for the win
No Joke made a fire
It kept our feet warm
There are another couple of guys here, one didn’t say anything and the other was marvelling at our efficiency. You don’t spend 75 nights out here without getting some routines.
My left ankle has been really sore today. The soreness started yesterday but this afternoon it had become more sore. It’s on the front of the leg where the foot bends. That bit is really quite sore. Walking is just about bearable, but I can feel it with every step. Now lying here in my bag it can definitely be described as pain if I flex my foot.
