Date: 2017-06-26
From: Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 51.7

To: Hog Gap Camp
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 55Monday, June 26, 2017 Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost/Overlook 51.7 (795.5) to Hog Camp Gap (812.7)Miles: 17.2 miles in 8 hours plus a 2.5 hour lakeside break2017 AT trip miles: 812.7Total AT miles to date: 2102.2Weather: Sunny, pleasant, drier, 60s-70sDinner: One Pot Taco Hikers: Mama Bear and her three children, Tinker and Bell, half a dozen or more other hikers at the campsiteThe shuttle brought Blue Hat, Road Warrior, Snake Eater and I to the Blue Ridge Parkway overlook¢the three of them are slacking the same section southbound that I did yesterday¢while I'm heading on northbound. The trail was again nice today and the temps perfect. Sunny, but not too hot. Only one big 3000-foot climb and even that didn't make me feel overly sweaty. Regardless, my pack smells so nasty. Any heat releases the nastiness exuding from the fibrous depths of the padded back panel and straps. There's nothing I can do about that right now. I attempt to ignore it.After two days of less than eleven-mile days, and even though I hiked over 2100 miles as of today, I started having weird self-doubts about doing 15 miles or more with a full pack. Now that I have a deadline, I have to maintain a certain mileage. I was thinking about camping around the 16-mile mark, where a view was noted in my guidebook. But a few things changed that plan.1) First of all, I had no clue that the trail followed a reservoir lake today. Most of the time, it was inaccessible, but as it reached the far end, the trail dipped down close enough to be able to access the shoreline where many ¢No Camping¢ signs were posted. But it made for a great lunch spot. I stayed there from 11 to 1:30. I haven't spent these kinds of moments sitting for any length of time, quietly observing. Of course, there haven't been any accessible lakes until now either. Sitting against a pine tree, reading, eating lunch, listening to squirrels chattering and giving chase, tiny claws skittering along the peeling bark, blue jays barking. Or I just stared at the water reinforcing once again that I do so prefer lakes over mountains. It was very peaceful except for the two times military planes broke the silence, the sound reaching me before the sight of them.2) Even after hanging out by the lake that long, I made good time¢even with the big climb and was surprised to find that the view was a huge open bald¢also signed with ¢No Camping.¢ There was one site with one tent with a man with whom I didn¢t feel completely comfortable. He was only out for a night or two and wasn't creepy so much as overly chatty. If I had been hiking with another person, I would have stayed, but instead I reluctantly moved on. It would have been a fantastic camp site. But as is turns out, tonight's campsite in Hog Gap is also in an open meadow. There are several hikers camped nearby including the mom and her three kids who I can hear are watching a video in their tent as I write. All four carry packs, but Mama Bear has the biggest. She must be carrying a battery pack too. An owl is hooting and the sun has set. 9:15 p.m. Hiker midnight.Four days and 49.9 miles left.