Day 83 – Rock Springs Hut to Pass Mountain Shelter 

“I can’t hide it in a closet

I can’t stuff it in a trunk

I always know there’s treasure buried somewhere in the junk

I can’t keep my roots from showing

But I’m still dishwater blonde

And I can’t keep my white trash off the lawn” – Miranda Lambert 

Up at 6:10. On trail at 7:40. No surprise, nothing dried last night. Packed all my wet clothes in a Ziploc. We will be at a picnic area around 1:00. I’ll lay everything out to dry on a picnic table.

Clear, 70s going up to los 90s, breezy.

Arrived at Skyland at 9:35 and 4.7 miles for Starbucks. Latte, OJ, muffin, and two sandwiches for lunch. Nice!

Overkill did a small resupply at the gift shop and I picked up some jerky. Our next resupply is Elkwallow Wayside late tomorrow afternoon. Got a second latte and sat at a table in the sun to dry some clothes … getting our hiker trash on this morning.

Enjoyed a long break at Skyland. As we were getting ready to leave we ran into Glass, 23, Newt, and Polar who spent the night here. They were getting a real sit-down lunch before hitting the trail. As we said bye to them, the brothers walked out of the woods. We camped with them last night but we left over an hour before they got moving. 

We got on trail at 11:15. We have 4.3 miles to the Pinnacle Picnic Grounds.

Nice view and some rock climbers. 

We arrived at the Pinnacle Picnic Grounds at 1:20. Great potable water source, trash cans, and bathroom. Put some clothes out to attempt to dry, but the sun has gone behind the clouds for now. May rain in a few hours. Ah…the drying power of a hot rock and the sun. We will both have dry clothes to switch into tonight! Can you say hiker trash?

Chatted with Beast, the ridge runner for Shenandoah. Back on trail at 2:15. We have 6.9 miles to go to camp. 

Quick food and water break at 3:00 on top of The Pinnacle. Nice views. It’s really hot and humid this afternoon!

Next stop is US Route 211 at the Panorama parking area in 3.8 miles. Water and bathrooms.

Took a blue blaze up to Mary’s Rock to check out the view. Nice.

YouTube video of Mary’s Rock 

Stopped at Panorama parking area at 5:30 to use bathrooms, top off water, and take a break before the big ascent up to the shelter for tonight. Nice place. Surprised how few cars for a holiday weekend.

Got to Pass Mountain hut at 6:45. We were the first ones here, so picked the best spots in the shelter and only two good places to hang our packs. Polar and 23 arrived about 30 minutes after us. An annoying guy from last night is here also. Snores like you would not believe. The brothers got here, and then Glass and Newt got here about 8:00. 

I packed out a roast beef sandwich from Skyland and had that for an appetizer. Made spicy ramen for an entree with Skittles for dessert. A well-balanced meal!

Overall, it was a very good day. I had almost no back pain and felt good all day. I really enjoyed hiking for the first time in several weeks. It was hotter than hell with the humidity today again. It felt like swimming through the green tunnel at times. 

Technical Notes:

• Pop-Tarts 370
• Chocolate muffin 400
• OJ 210
• Latte 235
• Turkey sandwich 400
• Latte 235
• Crackers 150
• Skittles 100
• Trail mix 200
• Trail mix 400
• Turkey sausage 80
• Trail mix 100
• Roast beef sandwich 400
• Spam 230
• Ramen 450
• Water liters 6
• Miles 15.6
• Time 8:30
• Elevation gain 3009
• Calories consumed  4000
• Calories burned 6500