Friday, June 26 8:06 pm 22.0 mi James River bridge/Bluff Mountain
AT 775.8 Harrison Ground → AT 797.8 Punchbowl Shelter
Weather: Hot and sunny
Trail Conditions: Crowded! I might be running into the back of a bubble. Day hikers headed the other way. 3 men and a dog at shelter at bottom of big descent, passed ~6 people already at Johns Hollow shelter at 2pm set up for the night, passed 5 more on climb, 4 other people at this shelter tonight
My Condition: Itchy! I feel like one giant, walking bugbite/rash. Otherwise feeling pretty good.
Big descent this morning and big climb this afternoon. Met Fog, a 2018 thru hiker doing a section hike with a couple of older gentlemen he thru hiked with. There were forest fires when he was going up McAfee Knob and he was diverted for a few days – when he finally got to do the Knob, he said it was that much better. He’s saving towards doing the Te Araroa in New Zealand, which sounds like an incredible long trail. Slept REALLY poorly last night – tent was on a bit of a slope, so I kept sliding to the side. Hopefully there’s not too much late night chatting or snoring tonight, I could use the rest. Came a few feet from a rabbit atop Bluff Mountain checking out the view.
Post Trail Analysis
Running Bear, and Fog, were among the other hikers at this shelter area tonight. Fog and his two companions got to camp after I had written this entry, so we ended up with at least 7. I had a lovely, flat spot for my tent, and enjoyed listening to the frogs in all the nearby ponds and bodies of water surrounding the site. I don’t remember much else noteworthy about this particular day, only that the next morning I had a rather urgent bathroom emergency leaving the shelter, praying that no cars came driving past along the Blue Ridge Parkway as I did my business and took care of the paperwork.
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