Day 100 – Where has the time gone?

100 days tracking! Man, time seems to have flown by but not at the same time either. It seems like yesterday and a lifetime ago when I began this effort in Georgia. And here I am, 100 days later, in New York, still trudging along.

Thankful for the new shoes

Sleeping in a real bed last night was fantastic! Especially after staying a few nights in a row before. Breakfast was pretty meager at the Super 8, but I made a bagel and some coffee to get the engine going a little. It took us a little while to get back to the trail, but eventually an Uber XL picked us up and we got in and headed to the trail.

We started a little after 8am and started with a steep climb! Last night’s rain washed out some areas, making walking a little tricky, but they made it back up without a problem. This morning is relatively cool, in the 60s, but the humidity is off the charts. As we ascended during the climb, we literally passed through a cloud and everything got humid pretty quickly, either from the humidity in the air or from sweat.

After the climb we had a few kilometers of ups and downs that weren’t too bad. A few more kilometers with the new shoes and boy do they make a difference! My foot pain has decreased drastically and I feel like I literally have a spring in my step! Although that could be partly due to the shorter day yesterday and the large caloric surplus I was in.

Appalachian Market

5 miles into the day we arrived at the Appalachian Market, a convenience store/deli just down the road. I stopped to take a break there and complement my mediocre hotel breakfast. I got a breakfast sandwich called the Heart Attack, which had bacon, sausage, ham, eggs, cheese, and hash browns. It might be hiker brain, but it might be the best breakfast sandwich I’ve ever had! After an hour of rest we returned to the charge and set out on the road again. The next few kilometers were pretty tough and once again I made pretty good time.

A few kilometers away, at a road junction, someone left a cooler with water, which was a pleasant surprise and I filled some water there before moving on. The miles really flew by today and there wasn’t much to report until the early afternoon when it started to rain lightly. The rain continued for the next few hours, never getting above a light rain, but it was enough to wet all the plants and trees along the trail. Which means everything below my knees was wet from the plants rubbing and after the rain stopped the trees still dripped on me for the next hour or two. But overall it wasn’t that bad. Especially as it seemed to reduce the humidity and lower the temperature a bit, which was welcomed by the thick humidity of the morning.

Enjoying the view

In the afternoon, while climbing Shenandoah Mountain, I ran into Shooter and Blueberry Turtle. We got to the top and there was a good view of the surrounding area, as well as an American flag painted on the rock there.

Better yet, there was even a bench we could sit on. Since we only had a couple more miles left in the day, we decided to take a break and enjoy the view with some snacks and a cigarette. Not long after we were joined by Birdie, who completed our group for the day, while Queso and Big Stick stopped at the previous shelter.

RPH Shelter

Unfortunately, we had such a good time there that we stayed for an hour, which meant we wouldn’t make it to the next shelter until dark. So we took off and sure enough, just before the shelter I had to turn on my headlamp to collect some water and get to the last little bit. Upon arriving at the RPH shelter, we decided to stay at the shelter and not set up our tents. The shelter was nicer as it was originally a brick building and later converted into a three-sided shelter.

There were bunk beds there for six and only one other person, Retriever, who started around the same time as us, but who I haven’t seen for about a thousand miles! I was going to take a top bunk since the bottom three were quickly claimed, but as I was putting my things away I noticed a large spider-like thing. Upon further inspection, there were hundreds of these in the upper corner of the shelter next to that bunk. With a little research we were able to determine that they were supposedly harmless Japanese camel crickets, but the thought of sleeping near them was a little unsettling. So I chose to sleep on the floor because there was space. Shooter decided to join me in this decision and also had a top bunk. I hope I don’t wake up with a bunch of them crawling on me…

100th day stats:

24.6 miles

5,007′ ascent, 4,849′ descent

US Route 9D to RPH Shelter

8 DSLC…

Stove use times: 14

This website contains affiliate links, which means The Trek may receive a percentage of any products or services you purchase using links in articles or advertisements. The buyer pays the same price they would otherwise pay, and their purchase helps support The Trek’s ongoing goal of bringing you quality backpacking information and advice. Thank you for your support!

For more information, visit the About page of this site.