Day 41 – Quarter of the Way Type of Day

I woke up around 7am and Ground Control and Major Tom were getting ready to start the day. I followed his lead and started packing my things and getting ready for the day. The clothes I hung out to dry last night didn’t dry at all, which was a sad way to start the day. But since it’s supposed to rain today, it probably doesn’t matter anyway.

Running for a dream (of hot food)

I started walking around 8am and the first two kilometers were quite challenging, walking along the ridge. That ended after a while and the trail became quite rocky, which again slowed progress.

Fortunately that section didn’t last too long and the trail was quite smooth and descending. From then on I was able to maintain a fairly fast pace as I descended the mountain and crossed several pastures. I finally passed an old schoolhouse from the late 19th century, where a guy was doing some magic on the trails from his truck. He waved me over and I started chatting with him. I was making some magic on the trails between transfers for people in the area. So I had a cold drink and a couple of snacks and then headed to the old school to see it which also had some magic of a local church. I didn’t take too much because I had plenty of food, just a couple bags of pretzels and Gatorade before I continued.

Historic school with magical trails

I was trying to keep moving while having a hot meal today at Sweetwater Venue, a weekend-only restaurant just down the road. I made good progress even with those distractions and arrived at the restaurant at 11:15 a.m., shortly after the 11 a.m. opening time.

fresh water place

When I walked in, there was already a whole table of hikers that I ended up joining, consisting of Ground Control, Major Tom, Moon, Tangent, and Uncle Joe. The place was quite hiker-friendly and had plenty of places to plug in electronics and fill water bottles. While I was there, I ordered two chili cheese dogs and a slice of strawberry shortcake, all of which were fantastic! After eating and hanging out there for over an hour, I needed to get back on the trail as the afternoon promised rain and I was trying to get to the Quarter Way Inn and avoid as much rain as possible.

Race to Quarter Way Inn

From the restaurant I crossed under the highway bridge and walked a bit before the trail returned to nature. It began by going up and down some hills along a stream, alternating between forest and grass.

The open fields are a nice change of pace.

It wasn’t long after walking again that the rain came. Not too difficult, but most of the rest of the day I bounced around in drizzles and light rain. But this was overshadowed by a small wooden sign around Mile 550…

1/4 of the way to Maine!

A quarter of the way from Georgia to Maine on the AT! It’s also hard to believe that I have already completed 1/4 of the route AND that I have 3/4 of the route left!

A notable change, as I mentioned I believe in my last post, the rhododendrons are starting to bloom! Yesterday I saw my first single bloom and today there were more. I hope to be impressed with the eruption of colors in the coming weeks!

Rhododendrons in bloom

The rest of the afternoon went pretty quickly as I listened to the latest Hardcore History podcast. If you like history, I highly recommend it! I got a couple of decent views as I headed down the mountain to the road junction where I could walk 0.3 miles down a county road to the Quarter Way Inn.

The road was pretty smooth and it went fast. Once I hit the road, I looked where I came down and you could see the tops of the mountains covered in clouds, which looked pretty cool.

Arriving at the inn around 4:30 pm, I did my normal activities (showering, doing laundry, borrowing clothes, eating, etc.) and settled in for the night. It was a super cozy place, with plenty of space to relax and unwind on a gloomy, rainy afternoon. I helped myself to a small refill and smashed a frozen pizza for dinner. Shortly after, I called it a night!

The Fourth Way Inn

Statistics for day 41:

19.2 miles (+ 0.3 bonus miles)

3,632′ ascent, 4,783′ descent

Stealth Site at Quarter Way Inn

4 DSLC…

Stove use times: 7

Tracker of whole pizzas consumed: 7

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