Hiked 19.3 miles, camping somewhere on Sinking Creek Mountain.
My plan to sleep in didn't pan out. My internal alarm clock went off around 6 and that was the end of that. I sat and enjoyed the morning view from Wind Rock until the bugs finally drove me away and I decided to amble along slowly until the rest of our group caught up. The beginning of the day was flat and then downhill for a ways. The sun was out shining bright and it looked to be another really hot day.
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| Morning view from Wind Rock |
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| Morning view from Wind Rock |
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| Morning view from Wind Rock |
The whole morning I leapfrogged with Animal, Mowgli, Gump, Beetlejuice and Goatman. I ran into them at War Spur shelter and relaxed there for a bit and dunked my head in the stream to cool off. Next up, a two thousand foot climb up to Kelly's Knob. It was a tough climb and finding a cooler of sodas left by a trail angel most of the way up hit the spot like you wouldn't believe.
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| 9 AM photo |
Kelly's Knob was terrific and everyone broke there for lunch in the sun. The view was great there and the bugs were less than elsewhere. Animal discovered a cave underneath it and a few people explored it and reported it went quite deep.
Thru hikers are constantly look for ways to make our diet a little more interesting since we eat the same things all the time. This is especially true for lunch where it is practically always tortillas with either pepperoni, tuna or peanut butter. I thought I would list some of the more interesting combos people ate today for lunch (all eaten in a tortilla): tuna and honey, peanut butter and granola and sriracha, nutella and granola and honey and sriracha, snickers and sriracha. Don't judge until you try it. As you can see Beetlejuice had some sriracha sauce he was trying to get rid of.
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| Animal strikes a pose on Kelly's Knob |
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| Gump, Mowgli and Beetlejuice having lunch on Kelly's Knob |
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| The thunderclouds are building... |
I ran into Why Not at Kelly's Knob and made plans to push a little further today so we can have a shorter day tomorrow. After lunch I decided I needed to get out of the sun for a bit so I headed down to Laurel Creek shelter and took an hour nap. I ran into Catnip and PS who we haven't seen in a while and they along with Beetlejuice, Goatman and Monk joined me in this endeavor. Why Not continued on with the intent to meet up later.
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| Passing through a bunch of fields around Newport, VA |
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| The trail goes through a bunch of fields |
After the descent from Kelly's Knob you pass through a large series of fields. The weather had been clouding up and I remember thinking "that thunderstorm is going to hit when I'm right in the middle...". Well that prophecy turned true and the skies opened up with torrential downpour and heavy lightning when I'm in the middle of the fields. Luckily other than being soaked to the I made out through no worse for wear. I found Orange Peel and Sparky with a tarp set up and huddled under it with them until the storm passed.
The sun came back out and I got going again. Soon after, I passed the Keifer Oak which is one of the largest oak trees on the trail with a circumference of over 18 feet and over 300 years old! From there I had a brutal climb up to Sinking Creek Mountain. It was steep and the mud was slick from the rain making it tough to get any purchase.
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| Here comes the thunderstorm |
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| The beginning of the low pressure system |
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| Ahead of the front it is still a beautiful day |
Upon reaching the top and getting to the next shelter I saw Why Not's hiking pole at the side trail turn off. This is our sign to people in the group that we are taking a side trail to a shelter or water or view. I'm assuming she got stuck in the weather and decided to call it quits for the day. The downside to this shelter is that it is .4 miles straight downhill. This did not sound appealing in the slightest and the weather was now good so I moved on figuring I would catch up with everyone tomorrow at Niday shelter where Why Not and I originally planned to go.
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| Keiffer Oak |
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| Keiffer Oak with my pack in front for comparison |
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| Standing next to the Keiffer Oak |
The trail follows a ridgeline and I got some great views as I walked. Very swiftly though another thunderstorm started brewing. It is a lot of slippery inclined rock along the ridge and I was worried about the footing once the rain started. About three miles from the shelter I came upon a flat protected area and took it as a sign. I was tired and decided to hastily set up camp before the rain started. I made it with seconds to spare!
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| View of the next ridge over |
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| Another thunderstorm looks to be moving in |
Hey Elliot!
ReplyDeleteI love the pics of the storms moving in or hanging out there and looking down on the clouds! That must be a spectacular sight! Long Gone gave you a shout out on his last post. He wrote "Talked to my thru-hiker friend B-Line the other day on the phone. I miss that dude. He and the group he’s traveling with are probably the coolest hikers I’ve met this far. Hopefully we’ll all see each other again before this trip ends." He was/is at Harper's Ferry. Are you guys almost there? I've read that it is the psychological half-way point! I have found some videos from folks taping their hikes everyday. Coupled with the pics you and SRocket post, I can get an expanded look at the landscape and the trail itself of where you have been and where you are going! Fun little project! Folks ahead are seeing a good number of bears, hate the swarms of bugs, no surprise and are being challenged by the rocks/boulders in Pennsylvania. Still raining in many places and very humid! You have found summer! Oh! Captain's looks like great fun and new trail names; new intros to you or folks you haven't seen in awhile. Meeting new hikers must be a highlight of the trip! Enjoy! Happy Walking! Aunt Deb