Date: 2022-10-28
From: Blood Mt Shelter Mile 30.1

To: Hawk Mt Shelter Mile 9.3
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: clear sky

When Orchid, Coach and I woke up, everything was covered in dew and soaking wet despite the overnight wind. I had water running down both the inside and outside of the tent. Closer to the shelter on the other side of the peak there was fog, but it was clear on our side when we woke up. I wiped down the interior as best as I could before packing up so I didn¢t get everything wet when I brushed against the tent. The foot of my sleeping bad is also pretty damp as it was pressed up against the tent wall.We packed up and ate breakfast while waiting for the sun to rise. When it started rising it was one of the better ones. With the clouds and mountains it looked like the sun was rising over a field of glowing lava at the base of a mountain. Quite spectacular. If you¢re looking to check out a sunrise be aware that some of the best colors in the sky are 30-45 minutes before the sun actually rises. I¢m feeling the excitement of finishing and it felt like I was mentally ticking off each mile today. I¢m definitely feeling the hills more than I think I should be. I¢m pretty sure this is fatigue setting in since we have not had many days off in October and have been pushing some longer than average days this month. From that standpoint I¢m looking forward to finishing to get a little break and some recovery. However, I¢m still having a ton of fun and hiking has never become a chore so I¢m sad that I won¢t get to keep hiking everyday. Part of me wants to go visit the kids and go home and see Mrs Duckie. The other part wants to take a double or triple zero and then get on the Benton MacKaye and Pinhoti heading towards Coach in Alabama. I¢m also super nervous about each time I stumble that I¢m going to get hurt with the end in sight.Just after 11 we came out to a parking lot at Woody Gap just shy of the halfway mark with toilets and trash cans. It had a small grassy area that was in full sun and we decided to take an early first lunch and dry out our gear. Soon in true Hiker Trash fashion, there were three tents, ground sheets and sleeping bags spread out in the grass and various clothes draped over the big rocks surrounding the parking area. We got asked a couple of questions by those parking to check our the overlook but most people just ignored us. What didn¢t was the yellow jackets, who almost immediately appeared once we starting eating. That is one aspect of hiking that I won¢t miss and one that I wish the early freeze had put an end to. Stayed long enough to get most things dry, but the tent was still damp inside when I started packing up.The rest of the day was relatively normal and uneventful for me. Keep getting some glimpses of fall but nothing spectacular. However, Orchid wasn¢t feeling well the last couple of miles which was probably a combination of the temperature and what she ate. I ended up hanging back with her and we took it slow but eventually made it up to the planned shelter. We¢re now just over 8 miles from Springer Mountain. By dinner she was feeling back to normal. We debated one last shelter for the last night but in the end are tenting behind the shelter.  There are seven other overnight hikers here with us tonight and we chatted with some of them. It was after dark when we finally finished up all the camp chores and get back to the tents.Coach broke out the band bus and we had one final concert on trail. It was a great way to end the final full day on trail. It¢s been wonderful that he joined us and amazing that he brought the band bus and we¢re getting concerts on trail. For next time I¢m going to have to learn to sing and memorize the lyrics to songs that he knows how to play. Tomorrow we will finish (if all goes as planned) and Orchid and I will officially become Thru Hike finishers.Steps 47300Weather Forecast: 63/39 partly sunny