5/21 Mile 560.4 Knot Maul Shelter

Trail Days was lovely, but I will admit: after only doing 11 miles in four days, I was ready to hit the trail! I got a ride back to Atkins with Chuck, who was taking several friends back to Bland and could drop me off along the way. After saying goodbye for now (until I catch up) to Rambo, Medic T, Aaron, Teabag, and Carrots I had a final cold ginger ale, then headed back into the woods. It felt absolutely right to be back. It did seem I had to relearn a little bit of the self-motivation I have on trail though, as I was stopping for much more frequent breaks, especially while I briefly still had cell service. Hit the quarter-way point! The 3/4 way ME>GA sign on the opposite side of the tree had me thinking about things from the Southbounders’ perspective for a moment.

After about 15 miles, I came to Knot Maul Shelter. I had been planning to go a mile or so further, but I was presented with an opportunity: an entire shelter to myself! I took it, and it was marvelous. My own little cabin in the woods. I slept great, and no one cared if I snored in the shelter.

5/22 Mile 577

I truly love hiking with my friends, but after the chaos of Trail Days, a few days of solo hiking was a nice reset. Lovely morning with a little breakfast reading of Walking With Spring before I left my solo shelter. Parts of today really reminded me of the Ozark Trail hike I did a couple years ago; it was nostalgic in the loveliest way. There was a bridge out, so I did my first real AT water crossing (other than the countless rock-hoppable creeks and streams). I’ll expect many more of those later in the trail.

Chestnut Knob shelter was one of the nicer shelters I’ve seen on trail. Made of stone, it even had a door! I had a snack by the lovely view out front, then headed inside for some reading that turned into a much needed afternoon nap before I ventured on.

I still didn’t feel I quite had my hiking rhythm back today. Probably not a bad thing that I eased back into it though. I did around 17 miles. Toward the end of the day, I encountered some free water jugs someone had put out at a road crossing. This turned out to be excellent, because it allowed me to take a sweet little nearby campsite just up the trail, when otherwise I would’ve needed to push on to the next water source.

5/23 Mile 604.4

Got my rhythm back! 27.4 miles today! Hiked a little pre-breakfast (saw a good sized bear crashing away from me through the woods in the distance) then stopped at the next shelter for breakfast and a nice little chat with a hiker named Ranger San. Just kept going and going today. I encountered a new hiker from Denver, CO named Roadrunner, and we stopped together at an unexpected little restaurant at a road crossing called the Outpost. He’s going quick! He did a third of the trail five years ago, and is out to finish the rest now, before the Fourth of July! 25-30ish mile days nearly every day, with no zeroes so far. He was fun to chat with, always lovely to share a meal with a new person. And surprise burgers and onion rings are the best!

I was expecting to stop twice before I finally did. Just past the 600 mile mark, there was a water source marked in the guide as “unreliable.” My plan was to camp near that if there was water, or push another two miles to the shelter if there wasn’t (the shelter, like most, had a reliable spring). Well, option number one was dry. Onward! As I hiked on, a small black bear swung down out of a tree and ran off just in front of me. After another 40 minutes or so (and another bear taking off down the trail in front of me), I arrived at the shelter and saw Roadrunner again. I filled up on water, but the tent site selection near the shelter left a lot to be desired. Onward, again. Night hiking this time, I found a flat but very buggy spot and set down for the night, ate dinner, journaled, and went to bed.

Warning: spider photo!

Side note: found a new favorite dinner combo. I know people wonder what we eat out here, so I’ll try and mention these things more often. I did the Knorr Teriyaki noodles side, with added peanut butter, olive oil, and Teriyaki beef jerky cubes. This was one of my favorite combos I’ve tried so far. Another day, tried the same with gochujang flavored tuna instead of the beef. Also very good!

5/24 Mile 625

Final day of my push to both catch up with Gwen and to meet Jacob and Mitch for their visit that I’ve been looking forward to since we first started planning it around mile 100 or so! So exciting!

Today was one of those days where the hiking just felt correct. Everything was happening at the right time, I was feeling good, I got to see some wildlife (two newborn deer with their mom, a baby possum, and a big black snake). I pushed a little past sunset. After a bit of night hiking, I noticed a perfect spot all on its own nestled into a little tunnel of trees, after traversing some rocky woods. I set down for the night happily, with only 11 miles to do to meet my friends in the morning!