Date: 2007-04-20
From: Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: overcast clouds

April 20, Max Patch and MoreToday was a much better day than yesterday. Very nice, in fact. It started amazing because I got to sleep in! Certain and I had decided last night that we would be in no rush in the morning since we only had a little way to go to Max Patch, our intended destination. So, I slept until 9 a.m. and got 13 hours of sleep. It was 46.8 degrees in my tent!I got up and dried off my tent a little since it sprinkled last night. Then, I headed up to the shelter where Certain and TK Express were chatting and having breakfast. I had a wonderful breakfast with the great company - a strawberry yogurt protein bar, apples and cinnamon oatmeal (surprise), and some tea. Delicious. We sat there until 11 a.m. just talking. TK Express are from Seattle and were a very nice couple.Around then, we all decided we better get moving. So, I headed back to my tent to pack up. We were a few hundred yards from the shelter tucked away under trees - it was a really peaceful and restful place.It was so nice to have a leisurely morning, especially since I wasn't feeling any better. Certain shared her Sudafed with me so I appreciated that.We got moving at about 12:15 p.m. The trail was full of ups and downs all day. In the beginning, they were nice and rolling. Toward Max Patch, they got more and more steep.We met Critter and Critter's Dad out on the trail today - one before lunch, one right after.We saw lots of wildlife today - a snake and an owl and a tadpole turning into a frog! I got photos of all but the latter. It was pretty exciting to see the owl, that was my favorite. He looked right at me!We were both excited to get to Max Patch today. When you read about the AT, it's one of the first things recommended - watch a sunrise or a sunset there. With 360 degree views, we were just so happy it was a clear day to be there. So, we got there around 6:30 p.m. and made dinner as we waited for the sun to set. We decided not to camp on the summit because it was too cold and windy so we would night hike to the shelter after we saw the sunset.I ate two Ramen packages for dinner and even branched out with one of them - oriental flavor. And I had some hot tea while we waited.We took a ton of photos because we were so excited to be there. The sunset was amazing. All sunsets are amazing but this one was definitely worth the wait. To be honest and cheesy, the only thing missing was Eric. It cooled down considerably as we sat in the wind so we started hiking as soon as the sun was gone. I find it funny how, on balds, the trail is marked every like four inches with a post and a blaze but once you get into the woods, the blazes seem to be miles apart. We were doing fine until the trail came to a dirt road. We turned right (I swear it was because of Certain's validation) but, little did we know, the trail did not. By this time it was dark. We were carefully looking for blazes but after about ten minutes we had seen none so we turned around. We found the lost trail and had a laugh because it was straight in front of us. Yea, night hiking. Anyway, the trail was nice and easy and we made it to the shelter by 9:30 p.m.I just set up my tent and I am ready to call it a night.I still felt pretty low energy today but I think I am fighting this cold a bit.-Sound of stream in the distance.