Date: 2015-06-01
From: Pinefield Hut

To: Pocosin Cabin
Miles today: 17.9

Up and out early again this morning as we have a long way to go with a ton of elevation change to boot. Today will be almost 18 miles, but the elevation change is over 7,000 vertical feet.The good thing about doing the distance today is that we land at the Pocosin Cabin - and as a result do not have to worry about finding a place to camp or pitch our tents as the place will be all ours. I also reserved it for two nights so that if we arrive a day late, it is still ours to use. At only $30 a night for the whole place - it made doing that an easy decision.We picked up an extra day of food in case we opted to stop at Hightop Hut rather than go the distance. Weather also could play a big factor for us as well and safety always trumps miles. The plan for the day was to get to Hightop Hut, evaluate how we felt and decide to push on or not. When we get to Swift Run Gap we will make a second evaluation and either find a place to camp or hitch a ride into Elkton or push on with the Swift River picnic grounds as a final place to rest before we move onto the cabin.We made good time, reaching Hightop at the 8.2 mile mark well before noon. We stopped to water up, rest, eat and pushed on. The water at the spring here was so cold that it gave me an ice cream headache when I splashed it over my head.We opted not to eat lunch until we got to Swift Run Gap - and took a break sitting on a log just after we re-entered the woods on the north side of the gap. There were lots of cars parked here - but we only saw one SOBO hiker all day and that was about it. After eating, we went and got a poor mans spa treatment by laying on the warm asphalt along side the road between the cars parked there. The warmth was extremely soothing!We had 6.3 miles left after lunch - and for the most part we felt fairly good. The last couple of miles was a bit of flogging the dog, but we pulled into the cabin at about 4:15 - and believe me - this place was worth the walk! AS I took the key out and began to open the lock on the door I commented (paraphrasing a take from star wars movie on the approach to the death star) "I hope this key is worth all of the lives that were paid to get it" - and with that - released to the sizable pad lock and opened the door.The cabin is fully appointed with all of the things you would need except the food and perishables. We opened up the cabin to cool it off and hung our gear to dry out. Several folks came through to check the place out, but moved on when they saw that we were there.Of course, a NOBO hiker that came through told us about the not one, but TWO bears he saw approaching the cabin. Of course, we have yet to see one!We washed up near the spring at the cabin, rested and later on, ate a leisurely dinner out on the covered porch. We lit a fire in the outdoor fireplace and sat taking things in as night fell. I tried to convince Wingman and Greenie to take a zero tomorrow - but both wanted to keep hiking - so we will be up and out tomorrow. That being said, we did decide to "sleep in" tomorrow where we will not have as far to go and we are planning to stop at Big Meadows for lunch, 9.7 miles north, so we don't want to get there too early in the day.At about 8:30 it started to rain - and rained almost all night long. Believe me we all slept like rocks in the comfort of the cabin, listening to the lulling sound of rain falling on the roof. I have to come back to this place again and stay a while. There is perhaps not a better deal in all of SNP than to rent a cabin like this!Today was a tough day, but a hugely rewarding one as well. After today the balance of our trip will be "short days".