Date: 2013-07-19
From: Lionel's House

To: Lionel's House
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Day One Hundred and Thirty Three - (11.2)Lionel's HouseWe all woke up early to slackpack today before it got too hot to hike. We were on the trail just after 7am and the trail was beautiful! We started with a big climb but ended up in a grass covered pine and maple forest with a view of a lake to the right. It was so nice! As we headed north the woods became more dense so that only the odd ray of sunshine fell through the trees. Not only was it beautiful but the shade was so welcoming on a 101 (feels like 111) degree day! Of course it's never absolutely perfect on the Appalachian trail so to make up for the cool shade and the beautiful atmosphere the trail was full of little hills that kept us climbing or descending all morning. On a cooler day this might not be an issue but with each successive climb we were getting hotter and loosing our steam. But I am getting ahead of myself! There was a section of the trail we did this morning called the Lemon Squeezer. It was huge rocks that were really close together that we had to squeeze through. What made it interesting was that the rocks were on an angle so you had to lean on an angle and balance while you climbed up and through. I'm glad we didn't have our packs today because without them this section was fun! There was a small rock climb that we had to take Melkie's pack off in order for him to jump but again it was fun to climb without our packs. We made several extra breaks today and at one point we came upon El Doctoro, Boogey and Fiddle again. They are section hikers who we had met two days ago and because we had taken a day off I didn't expect to catch up to them today but I guess everyone has to slow down when it is this hot. At our lunch break Canadian Bacon and I just laid down on the mossy rocks and tried to cool down the best we could. We were actually making good time in the heat and foolishly talked about doing a couple of extra miles. What were we thinking! By the time we reached the top of Black Mountain we knew that there was no way we would be doing any extra miles. The climb was okay, it was mostly in the shade with only occasional short sections in direct sunlight but when we got to the top it was totally exposed and within minutes we knew we were in danger. It was tempting to stay up there though because the blueberries up there were amazing and there was a great view of what I think is Manhattan! After grabbing what blueberries I could and snapping a few pictures I headed back into the shade to the steep downward trail. Soon we were at our designated pick up point and being whisked away to luxury again! Lionel had brought us each an ice cold Gatorade for the ride back and soon we were cooling down in the pool with big smiles on our faces telling ourselves how incredibly lucky we were. There is so much I want to say about Lionel and Lola they are very cool people but I feel like I would be breaking a confidence to write about their lives. Let's just say I am glad I met them and I am not just saying that because they have helped us out so much. TroubleThere are 1391.4 road miles from Springer Mountain,GA to Mount Katahdin,ME