Day 65 – Blackberry Smoothie Dreams

I slept like a rock last night. Although it was quite warm when I went to bed and I was only sleeping on my liner, I was relatively comfortable until 3am. Then I had to take out the quilt and cover my feet with it. I got up a little before 7am, this morning it took me a little longer than usual to get to the trail. I’m just trying to figure out how to treat the seven or so quarter sized blisters on my right foot/ankle…

So hot…

I started hiking around 8:30am and the trail started with a flat to slight descent for the first mile or so. Relatively easy hiking, which is always appreciated to warm up your legs in the morning. My strategy for the day was to start walking a little earlier to enjoy the cooler hours of the morning, but anyway, the main intention is to arrive at Big Meadows Wayside around lunchtime to eat there and take a few hours’ break during the peak heat of the day. Again, today is supposed to be hot with temperatures forecast in the 90s. Then, after a few hours on the trail, continue hiking in the cooler hours of the afternoon. The next couple of kilometers went smoothly with only a moderate climb and, other than that, fairly flat terrain. About 3.5 miles into the day, I stopped at Lewis Mountain Campground to fill up on water and use their facilities. When I arrived I ran into Speedy, a guy I’ve been hanging around for the past few weeks. He told me to stop by camp host and Trail Angel, Nishka Santa, and offered me some orange juice and a couple snacks to take along the way.

Back on the trail, it quickly got hot. The first mile was very easy, the descent had a small degree of gradient and the trail was in excellent condition. And then I had to fight the heat, climbing uphill to the top of Bear Fence Mountain, which was a little rocky. After which I had a nice stretch of about 2 miles that was flat or slightly downhill until I hit my last climb before the trail. It was only 500 feet of elevation gain in 1 mile, but in the heat it might as well have been double that. I was struggling and needed to take a short break in the shade halfway up. But after that, it was pretty rough to the edge of the road for the next 4 miles. Perhaps the most eventful part of the last section was almost stepping on a small snake. Unfortunately, it slid into the tall grass before I could take a photo.

Large meadows at the edge of the road

After a last couple of hot and tiring miles, I finally made it to Big Meadows Wayside. As I reached the path, I saw Haystack, Rolodex, and Megasmiles sitting outside. I left my bag and they offered to keep an eye on it while I entered. I ordered a burger with onion rings and one of their famous blackberry shakes. The burger and blackberry shake were pretty good!

Very good…

I ate slowly, taking the opportunity to charge my phone and use the Wi-Fi. After hanging out for a while, Freight Train showed up and we chatted while she ate her food too. The blackberry shakes were so good I had to order another one! I finally picked up a couple of resupply items before Haystack alerted me that someone was working magic in the parking lot. So I went out and bought a cupcake (who am I kidding, I ate 2) and a Coke. I put the coke away and packed it up, but I ate the cupcakes immediately. After spending over 3 hours on the trail waiting out the heat of the day, I headed to Rock Spring Hut for the night. I had originally planned to go further today, but with the heat and the blisters on my ankle getting worse, I cut it short. I also decided to go to Luray tomorrow to stay in a hostel and have my right ankle/foot checked at a clinic.

Beautiful view on the way to the cabin.

The last few miles went by pretty quickly and I arrived at the cabin just after 7pm. I found a spot for the tent, set up and went to bed at 9pm, in preparation for tomorrow’s early hike to meet my midday Gap pick-up time.

My humble and trusted lodging accommodation.

Day 65 Statistics:

15.8 miles

2,759′ ascent, 2,805′ descent

Stealth Site for Rock Spring Hut

11DSLC…

Stove use times: 13

Snakes seen on the trail: 11

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