Date: 2012-05-10
From: War Spur Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 28.3
Weather: broken clouds

This morning we woke up to blue skies! We were glad that we stayed at the shelter yesterday and we were on the trail at 8:30am. We only had 5.8 miles to the first shelter but there was a mountain we had to climb over before we would get to the shelter. It was 1700 feet up then back down to get to it. We got to a road crossing about 500 feet from the top and we found trail magic along the trail. Teflon was already there eating some oatmeal cream pies and a soda so we joined him in eating a snack. The last 500 feet went up an old road and it was the steepest part of the climb but the extra calories from the trail magic got us to the top in no time.The trail followed the ridge line for a while then went down the other side to the shelter. We stopped for a snack and planned on meeting Medicine Man there but we were getting cold because it was only 51 degrees and the wind was blowing so Big Sky left the shelter first and I left 15 minutes after her. The trail continued down the mountain into the valley and we had to cross over a bunch of stiles over fences and it was nice for once to be going through open fields when it was not so hot out. Big Sky was still up ahead so I was moving at a fast pace trying to catch her. I caught up to Teflon and passed him but still did not see Big Sky. I crossed through four fields, crossed two roads and a creek and I finally caught up to her after hiking an hour. She said that at one point she looked back at the fields and she could see a little red dot...which was me...racing through the fields so she picked up her pace trying to keep ahead of me. Once we were back together we continued on to the neck shelter. We had to climb up the mountain on the other side of the valley then the trail was ridgeline for the next 5 miles. We got to the trail that went to the next shelter and found that it was .4 miles down a steep trail so we decided to eat lunch on top of the mountain. The wind was still blowing and we got cold again so we left a note for Medicine Man saying we got cold and moved on to the next shelter. The trail was really easy for the first few miles then it got really rocky again. The trail followed the rocks on the ridge and they were big flat slabs of rocks. The rocks were all slanted at a 45 degree angle so it was a little hard to go over them. We really slowed down going through them but we finally got to the end and headed down the other side of the mountain and we got to the shelter at 6:00pmI was feeling really good so I decided to push on 10 more miles to the next shelter but Big Sky and Medicine Man decided to stay there. I left the shelter at 6:30pm and it was starting to get dark so I was going as fast as I could. I soon got to the base of the next mountain that went up 1500 feet so up I went. The trail went up at a constant angle so once I found my groove, I went up it in no time and because I was going up the sun did not set until about the time I got to the top. The trail then followed the ridge for a few miles and I finally had to use my head lamp by the time I was going down the other side. It was a little weird hiking in the dark but I just kept moving at a good pace. Plus the trail was very well maintained and had very few rocks and roots to go over. I got to the base of the mountain and was in a very dark valley. From there I only had 1.3 miles to go but it was once again up a mountain. I continued with my fast pace and finally got to the shelter trail at 9:45pm. I also found out that the shelter was .3 miles off the trail and the trail was not marked well. I got lost a few times but I finally found the shelter at 10:00pm. I took a quick break to drink some water and eat some snacks then found a somewhat flat spot to pitch my tent. Once I had my tent up, I found that the spot I picked was not as flat as I had thought¢¦it was slanted downhill and rocky but I am so exhausted I am sure it will do. Well I am very tired now after doing my first marathon hike as we call it so night all!