Date: 2022-09-16
From: Laurel Creek Shelter Mile 676.4

To: Pine Swamp Shelter Mile 657.9
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I had to pee about 4:45 and that seemed to start a chain reaction of people getting up so we all ended up waking up early. Bloom took if early for the shelter past where Orchid and I plan to stay but we¢ll likely see her tomorrow night at the hostel. Coach departed and Orchid and I followed shortly after. Started with one medium climb that wasn¢t too bad followed by a descent that started getting a bit rocky. We topped off on water at the first shelter and I put some more Hiker Goo on my right big toe which felt like it¢s trying to get a hit spot. Had a big climb up to the ridge where we¢ll be walking for most of the afternoon. During the climb we started getting areas where the trail is overgrown with wildflowers and you have to push through them. It¢s not too bad except that some of them have bees on them so you need to be a little careful. Somewhere along the way my pole got stuck in a crevice and was torqued sideways resulting in partially cracked carbon fiber. It¢s still usable to hold up my tent with some repairs but not as a hiking pole until I get a replacement section. Once on the ridge we walked a little ways to a campsite with a nice little spring to ear lunch. Unfortunately the flies and an annoyingly persistent bee found us so it wasn¢t all that relaxing and was shorter than desired. We got a nice view into the valley to the north as well as cell service where we were able to finalize hostel plans for tomorrow and the next day. Shortly after that we passed Bubbles and Onion going north from Springer. They¢re doing a Flip Flop out of Rock Fish Gap but choose to finish there instead of Springer. We got some information on the upcoming trail and hostels from them. After passing them the trail turned rocky, Pennsylvania rocky, for about three miles but was made harder by the short ups and downs and twisty nature as it followed the ridge as well as the overgrown wildflowers. We finally left the ridge and the rocks behind and started our descent where we ran into coach at a shelter about 4 miles from camp. I took a minute to apply more Hiker Goo to my right bug toe and then we were off. The next miles were through Rhododendron glens and along creeks and were quite pretty. We eventually caught Coach and we all came into camp together. The last little small ups really kicked my butt and it was a struggle to maintain the pace as I was following Orchid at the time.We got into camp just before 4PM which means we were just faster than the 2mph average pace we¢ve been trying to meet for the entire day. Two seems somewhat magical but it¢s one that we are generally able to hit or get close too and also leads to some easy math when estimating when you¢ll get to a location. It¢s a number that is used during planning as well as one that seems to be often in your head especially as you approach camp or town or are wanting a section to be over. This average includes both the walking and breaks so we¢re actually walking between 1.8 and 3mph depending on the terrain and how long we¢ve been hiking. Steps 36800Weather Forecast: 82/57 Sunny