Julie and I are hiking the Appalachian Trail in the US from Springer Mt, Georgia, to Mt Katahdin, Maine, in the north, a distance of almost 2,200 miles (3,540 km). Our journey will start in early May 2023 and is expected to take about five months. We will be mostly camping, carrying 3-5 days of supplies to get us between resupply points, where we will be staying in hostels/hotels/motels where we can. I hiked the entire Appalachian Trail back in 1986 so it will be interesting to see how much has changed and how much it has stayed the same.

Appalachian Trail - Day 034 - Damascus to Lost Mountain Shelter

Day: 034

Date: Sunday, 28 May 2023

Start:  Damascus (AT Mile 470.0)

Finish:  Lost Mountain Shelter (AT Mile 486.7)

Daily Kilometres:  25.6

GPX Track:  Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos

Total Kilometres:  825.1

Weather:  Cold and raining all day.

Accommodation:  Shelter 

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Cooked breakfast.

  Lunch:  Snacks

  Dinner:  Ham & cheese rolls.

Aches:  Nothing to report.

Highlight:  Finding room in the Lost Mountain Shelter for us to sleep at the end of a very wet and cold day.

Lowlight:  It began raining almost as soon as we left the hostel in Damascus and then rained almost non-stop, heavily at times, all day.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

The day began well, with a delicious big hot breakfast, and we began hiking out of Damascus soon after 8:00am on a dreary morning which soon turned wet, as forecast.

For much of our day the trail paralleled the Virginia Creeper rail trail, though high on the mountainside while the rail trail stayed on the valley floor. Our trail was often gnarly and steep and we wouldn't be the first thru-hikers to wonder why the AT did not use the rail trail given they were so close for our first 13 miles out of Damascus.

As the rain continued, the trail and trailside vegetation got wetter and it was a good test for Dave's new rain jacket and our new pack covers (both acquitted themselves well). We were mostly hiking through rhododendron and mountain laurel glades, with plenty of pretty blossoms, and occasionally along ridges through forest.

The persistent rain and cold meant we had trouble finding a dry lunch spot and eventually we decided that we wouldn't stop and instead keep going to the next shelter in the hope there would be room for us to sleep tonight. Yesterday's forecast was for the heaviest rain to be in the late afternoon and we didn't fancy setting up the tent in the rain.

Julie was getting wet and cold, made worse by regularly having to wait for Dave so, with five miles to the shelter, she went on ahead to claim a space and get into some dry clothes.

There were already a few hikers in residence, but still plenty of room for us when Dave arrived around 3:45pm. We decided to forgo our usual hot dinner and just ate the rolls we had never eaten for lunch and were in our sleeping bags by around 5:00pm for warmth.

Later a couple more very wet hikers arrived and the shelter space has become tight, but at least it's dry.  We had hoped to do a few more miles today, but common sense has prevailed.


 

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