Wow, it was cold last night! He seems to have reached his late thirties, and I was glad to still have my puffy hat and gloves. Since my day ended later yesterday, I had a slow and delayed morning. Which was very good for me, as it allowed the sun to warm the air a little. For breakfast I treated myself to some mini donuts, since Food Lion was having a deal: buy one, get one free for bags of them. So no Pop-Tarts in this restock, we’re crushing mini-donuts!
Other
The best part of going up is this view.
This morning I had a great view outside my tent, looking down into the valley around me. I enjoyed the view as I packed my belongings and got ready for the day. The first two kilometers I continued along a ridge, descending from the highest point I was at last night. It was still quite cool and breezy, but the sun moderated it. The terrain was quite rocky which with the broken ankle slowed my pace considerably. But as long as I’m careful with foot placement and don’t rush it, it doesn’t bother me too much. Luckily I was going slowly, as about a mile from starting I ran into this guy.
As DJ Khaled says, “Another one.”
Another snake… With the cold it was, it didn’t want to get out of the way, but with a little verbal encouragement it slithered. It’s not as big as yesterday’s but it’s a similar size.
Social lunch
I continued along the ridge for a couple more miles, going up and down along it before abandoning it through a series of switchbacks. At the bottom was Pine Swamp Branch Creek. I continued my descent parallel to the stream, listening to it run down the mountain much faster than me. This continued to the Pine Swamp Branch shelter, where I took a break for lunch and to refill on water. I ended up having lunch with Fozzy, Frog, Turbo, MasterChef and Fuego. It was nice to have a robust group eating together!
Pine Swamp Branch Stream
Back on the trail, the descent continued roughly following the creek until reaching a road. The trail continued very close to the road for the next two miles, as evidenced by the road noise that could be heard from the trail. This continued until I crossed the road and headed back uphill. It was a pretty good climb for the next mile and a half or so, about 1000 feet of climbing until we reached the Bailey Gap Shelter. However, the Bailey Gap Shelter was closed due to significant bear activity, so there is no need to stop there. I was hoping to see one from afar, but no dice. Probably the best…
Rocks on rocks on rocks
Most of the rest of the afternoon was relatively flat, although that is misleading as it was very rocky and slow terrain. The rocks continued for a couple of miles and with my injured ankle, that meant almost an hour per mile.
My current archenemy
But I finally got out on a mostly dirt trail toward the end of the day and was able to regain a reasonable speed. This was also a fairly dry section of trail after the abundance of water in the middle of the day, as both afternoon water sources dried up. This led me past the camp at Wind Rock to another one further down the trail that had water. The camp at Wind Rock was better though. Anyway, Wind Rock lived up to the hype and had fantastic views.
After leaving Wind Rock, I only had to walk a mile or so to the next campsite. Arriving later that day, MasterChef, Fuego and Fozzy were already there, setting up. But there was also room for me and I quickly set up my tent and had dinner. Today took a lot more effort and time than it should have, but I’m glad I was able to get over 16 miles on my injured ankle. And I’ll say it tomorrow, but I don’t think it made it worse either.
Statistics for day 47:
16.5 miles
3,465′ ascent, 2,881′ descent
Wills Field to the campsite
0 DSLC… Please note, with the Noro outbreaks around me, the toilets cannot be trusted…
Stove use times: 7
Snakes seen on the trail: 5
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