Hot and Dry

I waited around in the morning for the town shuttle. It was packed with hikers that had stayed. It was pretty hot that day and made it hard to get going. The hike was easy and I came upon the Lindamood School. It’s a historic one-room school house that has been preserved and located next to the Settlers Museum. Inside there were all kinds of treats for hikers including cold sodas.

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The next stretch to Atkins had many flowering trees:

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Once in Atkins I grabbed dinner at The Barn restaurant. It was nice to not have to cook! I pushed on after that to Davis Path campsite, former shelter location.

Daily mileage: 14.6, AT mile: 545.8

Shortly after my start I hit the quarter way point of the trail!

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In the evening, Paperclip’s girlfriend came to meet him. Since she had a car, she brought a grill and we all had a nice cookout.

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Daily mileage: 8.6, AT mile: 554.4

The next day was pretty hot and I got a late start. I took a great nap down by Lynn Camp Creek. I hiked on a few more miles, but the climb up Chestnut Knob was a big one, so I setup camp partway. TK caught me and setup his hammock near me. I hadn’t seen him since Marion, VA and was wondering where he was.

Daily mileage: 7.1, AT mile 561.5

I hiked up Chestnut Knob in the morning and took a good break at the shelter. It was interesting since it was a complete 4 wall structure that had a real door.

The next stretch was the first long ridge walk. It was nice and flat, but I didn’t pay close attention to my guidebook. What I quickly learned was that there is no water up on the ridgeline. I didn’t take near enough to stay well hydrated. I just made myself take it slow to not sweat too much. Another hiker was very dehydrated so I gave him some of my water.

Before the shelter it rained pretty well. It was actually welcome on such a hot day. I made it and enjoyed the evening at Jenkins Shelter.

Daily mileage: 14.2, AT mile: 575.7

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