The rain had stopped by the time we were waking up. On occasions the trees would spit out whatever build up was on their leaves, making us pause to confirm it wasn’t more weather rolling it. After a while the sun came out and it stayed clear all day.
We went a total of 17.7 miles today. It was incredible hiking: pine forests, rhododendrons tunnels in full bloom, there was a lake with bass stocked in it. Being from Michigan, we had to throw some cracker pieces to feed the little bluegills.
There were stretches of forests with tall ferns that made you feel like you were on the set of a movie in some remote jungle. As I crossed a stream, stepping from rock to rock, a salamander leapt out and up. I think I disturbed the stick he was hiding under. We climbed over a lot of boulder fields today. At one point you had to hold onto a root and jump down. Any day in normal life, that would have been easy. But hiking almost every day leaves my joints stiff and my movements are not even the least bit graceful.
We had lunch at the side of a road and saw a familiar face, a hiker named Antenna. She was slack packing with others and was waiting for them to catch up. She was at her car and offered us fresh fruit and cookies. I got one of the juiciest peaches I’ve ever had, a clementine, and peach cookies. Warthog took a banana and chocolate chip cookie. She even took the trash! We caught up on some things (or rather, people) to look out for on the trail. Then headed out again for the rest of the day.
As we were getting closer to our site, we met back up with Kirby. The three of us walked the last mile or so singing old hymns like Tis So Sweet, Amazing Grace, It Is Well, and more. During part of those miles we looked over to see an owl quietly flying to a tree. We stopped to get a closer look and he flew to another. Taking the hint, we left him alone. We just felt special to get to see such a beautiful bird. We hear them all of the time when we are trying to sleep, but we never get to see them. Warthog asked if it counts as night hiking if the owls are out. It doesn’t.
There were several overlooks on the AT during this stretch. We took a mid morning break at one of them (where we saw an anole or skink) and now we are camped at another for the night. The sun is down and the cities below are starting to light up. It seems foreign to see since we have been in the woods for two months, where the only light is the moon and your head lamp. It is also pretty to look at. It’s bright enough that you can make out the ridge of the mountains overhead, with the lamps sprinkled below.
-ansel