Day: 058
Date: Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Start: Blackrock Hut (AT Mile 885.0)
Finish: Hightop Hut (AT Mile 906.4)
Daily Kilometres: 35.7
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos
Total Kilometres: 1525.9
Weather: Cold, overcast, occasionally foggy and raining most of the day.
Accommodation: Shelter
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Egg sandwich & carrot cake/Honey bun & carrot cake
Lunch: Cheeseburgers & fries
Dinner: Rehydrated meals
Aches: Dave - still has sore heels; Julie - nothing reported
Highlight: Our early lunch in the Loft Mt Wayside diner was not only tasty, but it allowed us to get out of the rain and cold.
Lowlight: The afternoon was wet and miserable for hiking. There were many places we would rather have been.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
We woke at 5:30am and very quietly packed up so as not to disturb the other shelter residents. This was in contrast to about seven hikers who arrived at the shelter around 8:30pm last night and made little effort not to disturb the rest of us who were already in bed.
It wasn't raining at fawn, contrary to the forecast, but it started raining after a couple of hours hiking and barely let up for the rest of the day.
Our first break for the day was at the Loft Mt Campground store where we bought some breakfast from the limited offering and ate it in the breezeway (more like a wind tunnel) outside the store where there were some powerpoints for hikers to charge their devices.
By the time we left, about 10:00am, we decided to hike for an hour to near the Loft Mt Wayside then detour off the trail for an early lunch at the diner, which opened at 11:00am. The lunch was good and the break from the weather was very welcome. We met a hiker there who had been in our shelter, who had just hiked to the diner along the Skyline Drive, much shorter and easier than our trek along the AT to get there. Other hikers are doing the same thing.
After lunch the rest of the day was spent hiking through sopping wet overhanging vegetation and undergrowth in miserable conditions. The trail went up and down, but any views were obscured by the fog and rain.
We took an afternoon break in the cabin of a steam-roller that was parked near a road crossing to get out of the rain. While there we were visited by a doe and her fawn.
Julie went ahead with six miles to go to try and get a spot in the shelter we were targeting, knowing that many hikers would have the same idea. She was successful in a crowded shelter with wet gear and clothing hanging everywhere. We had dinner and went to bed hoping no more hikers arrive looking for space.
The rain is forecast to continue all night and tomorrow as well. It's officially the first day of summer in the US, but seems far from it.
Passed 900 miles today!
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