We slept well last night, but I still had to negotiate a few more minutes of sleep. That’s the kind of personality I am. I like to wake up slow. Warthog tends to wake up quickly. He surprised me. Because today our eyes met around 7a, but he had no intentions of moving until 7:30a.
We had camp broken down and were hitting the trail just before 9a, thirty minutes after we planned on leaving. The first few miles were easy and beautiful. We passed by signs that told us we were in an area of ruins. It had been a community of freed slaves that were sharecroppers. They sold the land in the early 1900’s to the forest service.
After the pretty hiking we started five miles of an uphill push. We only planned on hitting thirteen miles, so we could take our time and more importantly, take a lot of breaks. Our first break was at a shelter right before the push. Then the second was partway through where we ate lunch. As we walked out of the woods, a couple in a car called us over to talk with us. They were from Poland and were thoroughly interested in our hike. They asked how far we’ve hiked. We told them 800 miles so far. Then they kept telling us, “We’re impressed, you’re so strong!” Later I realized where we came out of the woods, there was a “hiker crossing” sign next to the road. I think they were parked right there waiting for hikers to step out. The thought makes me smile.
After we ate lunch at the roadside picnic table, a local stopped to ask if we needed a ride into town. His name is Michael. He is one of the people that maintains this section of trail. We didn’t need the ride, but we did ask if he’d be willing to take our trash. If you want to be a blessing to a thru hiker, take their trash.
As we were talking with Michael, we saw hikers named Swiss Miss and Hook coming out of the woods with two dogs on a leash. They don’t have dogs. They found the pups while they were hiking. The dogs are a hunting breed and must have followed their noses out into the woods and away from their people. Luckily, they had a phone number on their collars. So Swiss Miss tried calling, but didn’t get through. Swiss Miss was hiking with her aunt today, so they have a vehicle to be able to take them to the animal shelter in town. The dogs will find their way home, I’m sure. To be honest, at first I got really excited. I told Warthog before we left that I’m kind of hoping to find a dog out here. But again, I know a dog would make our hike infinitely more difficult.
Afterwards, we continued to push upwards. It was worth it. At the very top was an incredible view, almost panoramic. We sat there for probably an hour looking out. Other hikers showed up while we were there; Sandals, Atlas, and Lotus. After a bit, we decided it was time to push on. Only 1.4 miles to our site for the night and it was all downhill.
Our site for the night is an old orchard. It’s a large field with some trees in it. It is absolutely lovely and is the perfect place to spend the night. Warthog was especially looking forward to making a fire.
We met a guy named Yogi, a 2015 thru hiker and current year section hiker. He was just finishing his section hike and loved this campsite so much in 2015, that he decided to revisit it. He’s a woodworker and makes tiny houses. Warthog and I had to chat with him about the tiny houses. We just couldn’t pass it up. Yogi talked a bit about his tiny house designs, but mostly he liked to share his advice and stories about the trail.
We spent the evening with a fire, eating dinner, listening to Yogi, and visiting with friends. Tonight it is supposed to be cold. I’m excited because it means I’ll get to snuggle down into my sleeping bag to be all cozy. No sweat, no stickiness, just comfy.
-ansel