Date: 2018-04-06
From: Carter Gap Shelter 

To: Long Branch Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: scattered clouds

I¢ve been by myself for the last few days which is kind of refreshing in a sense, but also kind lonely, no offense Mayor.  Today, I passed no hikers and only a couple passed me.  However, about a mile or so before I was finished this afternoon, I spotted a guy from about 200 yards away. He wore jeans, a black jacket and tennis shoes. His hair was combed down over his forehead until it reached his Blues Brothers¢ style RayBans and he was just leaning against a tree with his hands slightly in his front pants pocket, he was way out of place and I have no idea what he was doing in in the woods dressed like that an no hiking equipment of bags of any sort.  As I approached, he made no movement at all until I commented "if you were a musician, this would be a great album cover". This made him turn his head toward me and flash a big smile of shiny braces. I passed with a fist bump and turned back after a bit for one last look to make sure he was still there and confirm this encounter. He was.It was another nice day for hiking, at least it started out that way. The first 4 miles I was making very good time. I was passed by "Mike the Moose" of Scottsdale, AZ, originally from Jackson, MI (still a Sparty).  "Moose" hit the trail on Easter Sunday and had covered as much ground as I have in three weeks. He¢s targeting 100 days to complete the trail...another 20+ mile per day hiker.Once Moose an I separated, the weather started to turn colder and wetter and the wet has not stopped as of this evening. It wasn¢t a downpour, but a nagging drizzle that kept everything wet and slippery. By five miles into the day, I reached Mooney Gap which is the beginning of the steepest, rockiest climb yet, Albert Mountain. It was an impressive section that took me about 35 minutes to go only .25 miles. There were two points at which I threw my trekking poles up over a bunch of huge rocks on the trail and climbed on my hands, feet and knees. Embarrassingly, after the first time I did that, I collected my poles, had a drink of water and saw the actual trail come out from behind another bunch of rocks. That would have been so much easier! But there was NO trail going around the second bunch of huge rocks so climbing them was the only way.At the top of Albert Mountain is a fire tower that we¢re encouraged to climb. Like I need to climb 4 flights of stairs, but I¢m glad I did. And though overcast and rainy, the platform provided a 270, maybe 273 degree view of a whole bunch of mountains, at least 40 and I think I climbed every single one of them.Shortly after coming off the tower, I officially passed the 100 mile mark of the AT and someone was kind enough to scratch it into the earth. (see the above photo taken from a nearby helicopter that I hired for this momentous occasion.)  So now I¢m settled into the lower level at Long Branch Shelter with three others: "Lucky", sleeping in his hammock in the rain, "Thunder Chicken", sleeping upstairs in the shelter and "Raskolinkov", who set his hammock up inside the shelter. This was a really nice group and we enjoyed the conversation until bedtime at 730.