Date: 2017-04-12
From: Beech Gap

To: Long Branch Shelter 
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: few clouds

Day 15 on the Appalachian Trail April 12Miles Today: 11.9Total Miles: 102.3We're over 100 miles in and I'm absolutely hooked on the AT. I'm having more fun than I ever would've imagined while hiking and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Everything about today was kick-ass. I woke up at 6:30 to my alarm. Joe was already up, out of bed and packing up. Apparently Dad had left about 15-20 minutes before I got up. Ended up taking a bit longer than I wanted to to get out on the trail. Was aiming for 7:30 but was closer to 8. The day started off real nice by going downhill. It was awesome to get the legs moving and warmed up before having to do any serious climbs. The miles seemed to be flying by. A few minutes past 9 and I had already gone 3.2 miles to Carter Gap Shelter. I was feeling good and I knew the rest of the day was going to great. Before I knew it I was jammin' while walking down the trail. There were several instances of dancing, singing, head banging, and air guitar. I need to film myself while doing this sometime on the trail because it must be a good sight. I feel bad for the first day hiker to run into me while I'm doing this. Theme song for the day: Nothin' But A Good Time by Poison. Not far into the trail we began walking through what is now my favorite part of the trail so far. On each side of the trail were charred rhododendrons where a forest fire had gone through the trail that made a super cool tunnel effect. It's terrible that that section of land was effected by a fire but it was certainly a cool spot to see. Around noon I was getting close to the most difficult climb of the day, Albert Mountain, a short 0.2 mile section but the trail was vertical. I came across a man by the name of Rodney doing some trail magic out of the back of his white pickup truck. He had a wonderful spread with coffee, strawberries, pineapple, bananas, clementines, muffins, and orange juice. I had a banana followed by a mini fruit salad in a cup with strawberries and pineapple. A cup of OJ hit the spot and a cup of coffee followed. I stayed and chatted with Rodney for a half hour, thanked him immensely for his generosity, and headed on my way. That magic fueled me back up and I was quickly at the base of Albert Mountain. After a short climb to the top, I ran into my dad as well as several other hikers at the fire tower. We all stayed up there for quite awhile. I steady flow of hikers continued to make the summit as others would leave. Everyone was loving the view and climbing to the top of the fire tower to get more. A full 360 degree view was awarded to whoever made the climb. With gray clouds rolling in from the distance I got on my way and made the short few miles down to the shelter Joe and I are staying at tonight. On the way down I stopped to snap a picture of the 100 mile marker. Dad continued on a bit farther to get an advantage on tomorrow. I arrived around 2pm and was once again impressed by the miles put in and how early I had finished. I easily could've continued on for another several miles. I had a late lunch at 3 and an hour later Joe showed up. We now both have our tents set up down past the shelter a ways. About to cook dinner here in a few minutes now that it's 6. We're planning on an early night so we can get up at 5am and be out of camp at 6. We have a short 7.2 miles to get to Winding Stair Gap where we will be heading in to Franklin, NC for a night and then a zero day. Really looking forward to a shower, some real food and a couple beers.