Date: 2014-04-28
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: light rain

Today marks my 4 weeks anniversary on trail. I also crossed the 300 mile mark today, so it was a good day indeed. After a mediocre night of sleep, mainly due to mice crawling all over, I was up at 6:30am. I took down my food bag from the bear cables, and had a pack of Pop-Tarts. I took my time packing up, but was walking by 8am. The day began with a series of steep descents off of Spring Mountain. At the bottom of the mountain, the trail crossed TN HWY 70 at Allen Gap, and there was a tiny rundown convenience store called Mom's. I boughta Dr. Pepper, Powerade, and an ice cream bar. I also bought 2 bottles of water because the trail was dry for the next 4 miles, and I was out of water. The trail was nice and rolling for the next few miles, which I did rather quickly after the sugar rush I just had at Mom's store. I stopped for lunch at noon at Little Laurel Shelter, 8.6 miles into the day. I lingered here for about 2 hours, and ate and talked to other hikers. I also paid the privy a visit. The 1.5 miles that followed lunch were brutal, and after about an hour, I made it to the top of the mountain. 2 miles later, I stopped for water at Jones Meadow, and hung out with Shamrock, Mecca, Tomahawk, Dr. Vargas, Shane, and several others. This is when my day turned really exciting. Rain just started to come down in buckets when I got to Blackstack Cliffs, where I saw a sign that said: "Exposed Ridgeline Ahead - Take Blue Blazed Bad Weather Trail In Bad Weather." At this point, thunder was rolling in and the smart thing to do would have been to take the bad weather trail, but did I? Hell no! I am sticking to the white blazed Appalachian Trail for every mile of this hike. What I didn't know at the time was that the stretch of trail I was about to go over would be the most technical stretch of trail I've hiked on yet. The rain was really coming down, and the wind was blowing strong as the trail climbed to the rocky exposed ridgeline. As soon as I hit the exposed ridge, I looked down in the valley and saw lush green forest that was being bathed in sunshine. It sure was different than where I was! The trail followed the ridge and went over countless boulders and rock-hops. In some sections, I had to use my hands to climb up and down rock cliffs. I was really enjoying myself, and the terrible weather actually made the experience what it was. I felt very strong and very much alive. After 1.5 miles of this awesome ridgewalk in a tempest, the trail descended and the weather returned to its former self. It is funny, the only bad weather of the day occurs when I hike such a technical portion of the trail that they made a bad weather emergency route. I'm very glad that I stuck to the white blazed instead of the coward's blue blazed bad weather trail. After another few miles, I arrived at Jerry Cabin Shelter, and claimed a spot inside. I cooked a huge dinner which consisted of 2 packs of Ramen and 2 packs of tuna, courtesy of Tyler's maildrop. Thanks bro! After dinner I hung out with a lot of other hikers that are here. I'm not sure where I'll go tomorrow, but I'm thinking about Hogback Ridge Shelter, 14.7 miles north. Today was an awesome day on the AT, and did I mention I crossed the 300 mile mark! Still a long way to go, but it is a great place to be after 28 days. I talk to God throughout the day out here, and thank Him a lot for providing me with the opportunity to thru-hike. I really feel close to God out here.