Day 81 – Halfway – The walk

I stayed up late last night working on a couple of blog posts. It had pretty decent reception, but sometimes they would appear and disappear, making loading photos slow. As I was falling asleep I heard something walking between our tents. I shined my headlamp to see what it was but couldn’t find it, probably a deer…

Clear navigation

This morning I got up at 7am and walked before 8am. Not too early, but trying to get some time in while the weather is cool as today is supposed to be in the mid 80’s. The first few miles today were pretty hilly which indicates what awaits us today according to the topographic map. Although parts were quite rocky at times so not everything is clear today.

I also had good reception this morning, so I called my parents to work on sending me some items from home and catch up on them. About 5 miles later I enjoyed some trail magic! There was a bag of snacks on a stump near a road junction, and I helped myself to a small packet of cookies. But it was actually a pretty quiet morning as I didn’t take my first break until Caledonia State Park, 7 miles away.

After a long rest that ended up turning into an early lunch, I continue with the biggest climb of the day. It had about 1200 feet of elevation gain over a couple of miles, with a couple of fairly steep sections. Fortunately, they were divided with flatter sections that made the topographic map look like a pair of stairs. After overcoming the climb, I encountered several kilometers of fairly flat terrain. I had a good time going through those parts and was cruising until I reached the next water source a few miles later.

There, Blueberry Turtle and Sparky were taking a break and filling up on water. So I chose to do the same. After a while Queso and Big Stick also arrived. We ended up staying for another long break, which was nice as there were benches next to the water fountain located in the shade.

Midway

With the goal of reaching Tom’s Run Shelter, which would be a 22+ mile day, we needed to keep moving. So I continued with a short climb before transitioning into a nice pine forest for a couple of miles. This was a really nice change of pace, one for the change of scenery as well as a wide, smooth trail padded by pine needles. It’s the hiker’s version of walking on a nice plush rug.

I made it a few more miles before I got halfway up the AT! Just before mile marker 1099. There was no sign there, as the halfway point is adjusted each year as mileage changes, but Queso and I exchanged a punch in quiet celebration.

Seeing that we were close to another milestone we walked side by side until we reached kilometer 1,100. Another hundred miles completed. After that I only had a couple more kilometers until I reached the shelter. The last stretch was quite difficult, but I still made it a little after 7pm. There was quite a bit of activity at the shelter, with several people staying in the shelter and at least 12 tents. It was a bit buggy, so during dinner I made a small fire to keep them at bay a bit, as well as to toast my Spam a bit before eating it. Unfortunately it fell off the stick I was using, but I rinsed it and toasted it a little more before eating it. It turned out pretty decent actually! Then, I finished some housework and went to bed.

Statistics for day 81:

22.7 miles

2,772′ ascent, 3,501′ descent

Stealth Site for Toms Run Shelter

27 DSLC…

Stove use times: 14

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