Wednesday, October 15, 2025. Up at 8:00. Sunny and warm going up to the low 60s.
Today is our last full day on the trail and in the park. We have 7.6 miles to Elkwallow Wayside. Looking forward to hot food for lunch. Only 13.6 miles total today with nice weather. Should be a good day.
I had visitors while packing up this morning. Mom was hanging out about 8 feet from me while I was breaking down camp. She had no fear. The little one was only slightly more nervous.
On the trail at 9:00. Nothing much to see in the first part of today. Reached the burn area from 2 years ago. It has recovered dramatically since I hiked this site last year.
Reached Elkwallow Wayside at 12:00. Talked to Jolly who just flipped down to this area from NH. He has 4 more weeks on the trail headed south. Should get near the end of Virginia before he runs out of time. I pointed him to the best Chinese buffet on the AT in Waynesboro.
We had a nice lunch and got back on the trail about 1:00. We have 6 miles to camp with the next 2 being a bit of a steep uphill. Should be making camp about 4:00.
View of Front Royal in the distance. About 25 miles away.
We arrived at Gravel Springs Hut at 4:10. Got camp set up fairly quickly. Two other guys showed up separately.
Talked to Javelin who is SOBO on a thru-hike but will have to call it quits in about 4 weeks due to an injury. He started at Katahdin in June. He will finish his thru in April next year.
Adam is out for 2 days from Arlington. He built a fire with some help from all of us.
Hung out and chatted with the group until 7:15. Getting cold so headed into my tent to blog and read for a while.
Technical Notes:
- Pop tarts 360
- Cheese burger 600
- Blueberry milkshake 250
- Dr pepper 140
- Onion rings 150
- Crackers 190
- Ramen 370
- Spam 250
- Chex mix 350
- Water liters 1.5
- Miles 14.46
- Time 7:10
- Up 2841
- Down 3064
- Calories consumed 2660
- Calories burned 2287
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