Today’s Miles: 17
Trip Miles: 265.3
“Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream” – Oscar Hammerstein
Scattered rain showers after 2 p.m. Cloudy. High near 65, with temperatures falling to around 59 in the afternoon. South wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Up at 7:00. Slept great! Best sleep in many days. Sleeping next to Mother Nature’s white noise machine helped.
Snapped an arm off my glasses. I’ve done this once before and Dana figured out how to fix them. Will work on that once I dig out my emergency spare glasses! And fixed!!!!
Out of camp at 8:15.
I crossed Interstate 40. Five bars cell so called Dana and chatted while she was driving to work.
Passed turnoff to Standing Bear Farm at 9:10. No plans to stop and hang out with the hippies. Not my scene and I have enough supplies to make it to Hot Springs.
This is not a fun start to the day. Crap!
Took a break, had a snack, and refilled water at 10:30. Hard climbing morning!
Summited Snowbird Peak at 4275 feet at 12:15. Thank god! Nice 360-degree views but cloudy.
I took some really amazing video up here! But the Internet ate it 🙁
That facility on top of Snowbird Mountain is an old but still functional FAA VOR. For those curious about what VOR (Very High Frequency Omni-Directional Range) is, here you go:
Took a break for water and lunch at 1:20. 8.5 miles till camp. Weather is getting questionable. Wind kicking up and spitting rain. I have 2 nasty uphills and one medium one left. Wish there was a shelter in between the one right near me and the one 8.5 miles away. If I see a decent stealth spot, I may use it.
That which does not kill us makes us stronger!
Peak two down at 3:00. Been raining on and off. Put my rain kilt on about 2 miles ago. Hate wet pants, but don’t mind the cool rain on my upper body. Will take a break in .6 miles at Brown Gap Spring…all downhill to there.
Last big nasty climb for the day coming up after my break. Not exactly a walk in the park after this, but not terrible either.
Got to Max Patch gate at 5:05. That last climb was harder than I thought, especially in the cold rain. Here is some info on Max Patch.
It is cloudy and rainy and windy up here. At least I am able to get a bit of the view, but I want to come back on a clear day.
Made it to Roaring Fork shelter at 6:45. Wet, cold, sore. Last mile was a struggle. No cell service. Set up camp, got water, got into dry clothes, made dinner. Last hot meal I have. Checked in with Dana via Garmin.
Ate at 8:20 in my tent. Cold and damp outside. Walked smellables to bear box at 9:00. There are about a dozen people here, but they’re all asleep. I’m the only night owl as usual.
Battery bank one dead. Used bank two to charge phone. Glad I conserved battery usage. If I was out here two more nights as originally planned, it would be tight.
That was my longest and hardest day yet. On top of the 16.6 miles yesterday. I feel good. Achilles and calves are sore but not terrible. Gonna try almost 18 miles tomorrow to get into Hot Springs, NC an entire day early. Two big hills to climb, but they’re both in the first 7.2 miles. Lots on down after that. The rain for the next 4 days is incentivizing me to get to town.
Technical Notes:
- Cliff bar 250
- Trail mix 270
- Snickers 250
- Trail mix 270
- Trail mix 270
- Trail mix 270
- Fritos 300
- Mountainhouse teriyaki 440
- Dehydrated chicken 170
- Water liters 4
- Miles 17
- Time 9.5
- Elevation gain 6000
- Elevation descent 3000
- Calories consumed 2600
- Calories burned 6500