Date: 2016-04-25
From: Upper BRP crossing at mile post 76.3

To: Tent area near James River
Miles today: 13.5

I had trouble sleeping last night with the full moon out - I kept waking up thinking it was morning and it was not. I finally got up at 5:40, got dressed and went to the bathroom - and then just stayed up as we had to be out by 7:00 AM.Greenie and I made breakfast in the cabin this morning - packed and headed for the camp store at 6:50 to get some coffee. Susan was there and the coffee was brewing so I paid our tab and then had some coffee on the house :>).Shoulder wide showed up, but when he realized he would have to kick in some cash for the shuttle he left the store - but then came back and went with us. Greenie and I rode in the cab of the pick-up with Tim while Shoulder Wide rode in the back sitting on a bunch of straw..We were at the trail head at 8:15, pointed Shoulder Wide in the right direction, said out goodbyes and headed NOBO. We passed Thunder Hill shelter in short order, finding a note on the trail just before the shelter telling folks that there was no water at the shelter but where to find it nearby.The trail was easy going this morning - it is so nice to go over a mountain but never actually climb it. Yesterday we went from the summit SOBO and today we went from the summit NOBO!Along the way we passed a package thumbtacked to a tree with a note that it was for a NOBO German hiker. We stopped at an overlook shortly after and took some pictures.We had fields of Mayapples and other flowers like Trillium this morning that stretched as far as the eye could see.We had lots up ups and downs and then up over Highcock Knob. On the way up the knob we met an older couple training for another long distance hike. They were here from Maine and had previously done the AT- and I think we disturbed/caught the woman who was trying to sneak a pee! We passed Marble Spring at 11:30 AM, where we had originally planned to camp but with the change to our hike will not. We kept going until the Sulphur Spring North trail crossing and broke for lunch. Three ladies on horses came through and stopped to talk for a short while then moved on.We stopped by Big Cove Branch where we watered up. I splashed water on my head and neck to wash off and scared a large frog in the process. Got to Matts Creek shelter at 2:30, but opted to go about another mile to camp down by the James river. There was some traffic on the road across the river and train tracks to boot - I HOPE this is not like what we had outside of Boiling Springs with the trains running all night!.We had dinner and were in our tents at 7:00 PM. Tomorrow is our last full day on the trail and with less than 12 miles to the Punch Bowl Mountain shelter it should not be a bad day, but we have a bit of climbing to do to get there.I cannot believe that this trip is almost over. We will have averaged about 14.5 miles a day and do a total of 160 miles. My feet hurt a bit today and old injuries are kicking back a little. Next long trip I need to build in a good mix of shorter and long days and enough nearo days to give my body a break. I am realizing that if I had to push on too many more days without a break I could end up injured - something I do not wish to do.