We left the hostel around 8a, Grey Eagle is ahead of us by 30 minutes. The first 4 miles were mostly uphill. It started off hot, but then got cloudy and cooled. I am so grateful for the cool weather. I know in about a month or 2 it will be much warmer.
It was a fantastic day. We walked through a lot of different terrain from forests to balds (hills/mountains without trees). We passed by what BR called “the Jetson’s hamburger shop”. It was a weird looking tower, one the FAA set up for all aircraft to use as a ping point. It helps the pilots to navigate and know where they are at. Ben went up and got photos, he gets excited about anything aeronautical.
We were the lucky recipient of trail magic twice today! The first time was at a gap. The 3 guys had thru-hiked the year before. 1 completed 700 miles (he was originally only going to do a month on the trail), the other 2 went all the way from Georgia to Maine. They really had a party. There were hamburgers, fresh fruit, music, beer, etc. They were also telling people to stay so they could make breakfast for everyone. We got talking and they told us about their favorite day on the trail. It was getting to see a wild pony being born. They said they sat there and watched as the pony took it’s first steps. Truly amazing! I was tempted to end my day there at the party, but we pressed on.
Just a couple of miles up was the next trail magic by a former thru-hiker again. His family came out and joined him. We hit it just as they were about to close up. They brought dry ice and had ice cream bars on it. There was one left. Ben and Veg split it. As we were talking I asked what his next adventure is. He said he was going to Patagonia. I love how adventure breeds a desire for more adventure.
We had just a few miles left and we hiked it as a group: Veg, Atlas, Kirby, Minutes, Lotus, Bullseye, Snow Monkey, Warthog (Ben), and myself. The plan was to camp on top of Max Patch – a popular place even for the locals. When we got on top, there were lots of couples cuddling together on a date night. There were also lots of other thru-hikers setting up camp. Ben and I lost our stakes. It was pretty windy on top of the bald, so we went down a bit from the highest point where we would be more protected. Most of the group had an extra stake and another hiker gave us 3 that he found. So we were well grounded.
We watched the sunset and then had fire. Kirby was a master at maintaining it. After night fully arrived, we could see all of the cities around us. The earth below was lit up by millions of tiny lights. It is amazing how close we are to civilization. We feel like we are a world apart from it. But in reality, we are probably only a 20 minute drive away.
