Day: 008
Date: Tuesday, 02 May 2023
Start: Near Standing Indian Shelter (AT Mile 85.8)
Finish: Rock Gap Shelter (AT Mile 105.6)
Daily Kilometres: 32.9
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 179.7
Weather: Cold and mostly sunny with a strong icy wind.
Accommodation: Shelter
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Pop tarts
Lunch: Trail Mix
Dinner: Soup and dehydrated meals
Aches: Dave - very tired and some niggles; Julie - nothing to report
Highlight: Passing the 100 Mile mark, which was indicated by some sticks arranged as “100” beside the trail. Only 2,100+ to go.
Lowlight: Packing up in freezing temperatures this morning was no fun
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
We set our alarm for 6:00am and did as much packing and dressing as was humanly possible while still in our sleeping bags on a very cold morning with an icy wind blowing.
We were walking, wearing more layers than normal, by soon after 7:00am in the early morning shadow of Standing Indian Mt (5,478’) which we climbed on a trail at a reasonable grade, hoping that the sun would soon hit us. Near the summit, the sun did warm us a little, but the day remained very cold.
The trail today had more gentle grades and easier walking, much of it along ridge lines with lovely filtered views of endless mountains rolling away into the distance. Often the trails also passed through groves of rhododendron, but mostly through woodland. Sadly, there were sections where the trees all appeared dead, likely due to disease. On a happier note, there were many wildflowers lining our trail all day.
A notable exception to the easier trail was the ascent of Albert Mt (5,213’), the last part of which involved climbing a very steep rocky bluff. At the top was a disused, but maintained, firetower which we scaled to get exceptional 360 degree views, but it was so cold in the blasting wind, we didn’t stay up there for long.
We saw only a few other hikers today, which enhanced our wilderness experience. Having started in late April, we are behind the main “bubble” of hikers who tend to start between early March and mid-April. We will gradually catch “the bubble” but it will be spread out and thinned out, so should never get too busy for us.
Dave began struggling a bit with fatigue and “hammered” feet over the last hour or so, and managed a “face plant” when he stubbed his toe on a rock, but no harm done apart from a little skin off one shin.
He was very glad when we reached Rock Gap Shelter, our target for the day, at around 6:20pm. Originally, we had intended to find a campsite somewhere shortly after the shelter, but finding the new structure empty, we decided to stay there for the night. A few other hikers are camped nearby, some of whom we chatted with while having dinner, but it’s not busy and we are still the only ones sleeping in the shelter. The risk of sleeping in the shelter is that we will have mice scampering over us during the night. The plus is that we won’t have to pack up a tent in the morning.
The forecast is for another cold day tomorrow. Still insufficient internet reception to post this blog or yesterday’s.
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