Saturday, July 4 9:44 pm 20.0 mi
AT 930.3 Rock Spring Hut → AT 950.3 Stealth Campsite w/ big group!
Weather: Hot and sunny. Very sweaty day
Trail Conditions: Jam packed today. Tons of people out here – the campsites are all booked, the day hikers all eagerly putting their masks on 50 yards away from me and turn away, maybe even lean away, as I pass. Very rocky trail today
My Condition: Happy heart and full belly yet again!
Met Fix It, a section hiker, at breakfast this morning – delicious strong coffee, blueberry pancakes, and breakfast skillet. Fix It is an architect gone corporate gone teacher and just finished his first year of 8th grade math (and a couple science classes thrown in). He is vlogging his journey and his inner city students are eagerly following along – what a great way to share his passion and inspire. He and I spent the morning talking education, the value of a good teacher, and Wim Hof (he loved “What Doesn’t Kill Us” by Scott Carney). Stopped at Skyland Resort for a Dr Pepper. Hard to get into a rhythm today passing so many people and having to step off trail while big groups passed from the other direction. Blue Sasquatch and Cage were waiting for us at dinner, and even though I only know them from a couple nights at Stanimals, I really enjoy them and was really glad to see them. They aqua blazed and had a great time – saved a day old fawn who fell into the water and couldn’t get up the embankment on its own, saw bald eagles and an otter, and came back with really sore arms and shoulders. We all talked about doing the 4 State Challenge – 43 total miles in a single day, and Fresh Ground is going to support us through it, his first time helping a group through that stretch. Every additional day with him is an absolute blessing! Cajun rice, cheeseburger, corn on the cob, and hand cut fries for dinner tonight. It’s early, but I’m REALLY enjoying hiking with this group of people however long it lasts!
Post Trail Analysis
Happy Fourth of July! Spent much of the day walking and talking with Fix It. We met a trail maintainer who seemed less than thrilled to see us, asking if there were other hikers coming and grumbling about the crowds. Later on, Puddles would see this same trail maintainer, who asked about her unique accent. “Are you from Germany?” Almost...so close...Texas. Blue was DECKED out in patriotic gear (Blue? More like RED WHITE AND BLUE!) when we showed up for dinner – as someone who has quite the patriotic wardrobe from years of 4th of July themed summer camp weeks, I knew right away that we were going to get along. Despite really not knowing Blue or Cage that well I already felt a certain level of kinship with them. These two made the decision to meet up with Fresh Ground and with us instead of taking a zero in town, and I appreciated that. After stuffing ourselves full to bursting with a delicious Fourth of July feast, we waddled (Toy Story effortlessly glided) up the trail until we found a suitable stealth site. Toy Story, Puddles, Blue, Cage, Fix It, and I crammed in, tents right up against one another. Blue had a colorful light show going in her tent and Fix It looked unsuccessfully for a good tree to use for a bear bag (he was one of the most responsible hikers I had met on this subject – he had originally carried a bear CANISTER which is almost unheard of on the AT. Here we all were sleeping with our food bags right there in our tents without issue, and before we had met his bear canister got completely destroyed by a hungry bear! He was pretty adamant about wanting to throw a proper line for his bear bag, but with the light dying was unable to find a suitable tree. Poor guy!). Gumby unfortunately opted to set up his tent near the spot where we had eaten dinner – this near-perfect night would’ve been the perfect night if we had all been able to share it together.
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