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 099 - South Mount Wilcox Shelter to Finerty Pond

Day: 099

Date: Tuesday, 01 August 2023

Start:  South Mount Wilcox Shelter (AT Mile 1540.6)

Finish:  Finerty Pond (AT Mile 1561.2)

Daily Kilometres:  32.5 (Ascent 4052', 4042')

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

Total Kilometres:  2608.2

Weather:  Mild and sunny.

Accommodation:  Tent

Nutrition:

  Breakfast:  Pop tarts, ice-cream 

  Lunch:  Trail mix

  Dinner:  Rehydrated meals.

Aches:  Dave - multiple niggles; Julie - nothing reported.

Highlight:  A little over seven miles into today's hike we crossed a very quiet rural road near an immaculate country farm house outside of which was set up a farm stall for AT thru-hikers.  It consisted of a small shed with a fridge and shelving inside and all sorts of goodies ranging from ice cream sandwiches to cold drinks to snacks and eggs.  It had power points for recharging devices, a wifi hotspot and a gas BBQ.  Payment was all on an honour system with a price list and a zipped bag to put your money in.  Soon after we got there and bought our treats, several other thru-hikers we had got to know turned up and we had a very social half-hour on the adjacent picnic table comparing trail stories.

Lowlight:  It was largely a very welcome mosquito-less day, but they emerged in their hundreds as we set up camp and we had to eat our dinner wearing our full rain gear as protection.

Pictures: Click here

Map and Position: Click here for Google Map

Journal:

We were hiking by 6:40am on a cool morning with relatively few mosquitoes through mostly conifer pine needle-carpeted forest.

Apart from the farm stall (see above), it was a pleasant, but unremarkable day.  The mild weather with low humidity made for enjoyable hiking and the scenery was picturesque.

Again, we were often reminded we were not in the wilderness by frequent road crossings, the occasional residence and some rural views.  We had to cross a couple of valleys on boardwalks and there were plenty of boggy patches to negotiate.

There were also some significant climbs including Cobble Hill from which there were excellent views and we also passed by some lovely ponds.

Around 5:00pm we climbed our last mountain for the day, Becket Mountain, and then descended to Finerty Pond where we found a very nice campsite (apart from the mosquitoes) near the pond.  Strictly speaking, we don't think we're allowed to camp here, but we will "leave no trace" when we leave in the morning.  All in all, we had a good day.

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