Date: 2022-10-26
From: Hostel Around The Bend (Exit at Dicks Creek Gap) Mile 70.4

To: Blue Mt Shelter Mile 51.3
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: broken clouds

The hostel offers a slackpack option but it would have been about 2.5 miles less than our target and would have required us to make up those miles to finish on the target day. However, they indicated they would bring our packs out to us so we could finish at the target spot and not carry everything with us on this scheduled long day with a lot of climbing. Orchid , Coach and I departed the hostel with food and essential gear heading south and will get the rest of the gear at Unicoi Gap in 17 miles. If all goes well, this is the last time we will be leaving a town and getting back on trail. Almost seems unreal that this is the case.It rained overnight and was a foggy and chilly start to the day and was reminiscent of the days after Damascus except not as wet. On these days I¢ll typically have the sleeves rolled up and add and remove the gloves to regulate temperature. I¢m starting with pants and if it gets warmer I¢ll convert the pants to shorts. We were walking through a light fog for much of the morning, especially the higher we got. We had some foggy views to start but the clouds eventually lifted and we got some partial views of the surrounding mountains. They are colorful, but we¢re only getting partial views through the small gaps in the forest. Otherwise the hike today was relatively easy and generally it was an unremarkable day.We got to Unicom Gap shortly before the drop off time and the hostel owner showed up shortly after with the rest of our gear. I dumped a bunch of the town food related trash I had accumulated and then haphazardly stuff the rest of the gear in my pack as we only had about an hour of hiking left. Leaving Unicom we had a 1000 foot climb with the full pack with full food bad. I was really noticing the pack weight difference and the pack was not wearing well on the climb. We eventually made it up to the shelter but it was a long tough climb and my body was complaining more than usual at the top. As I was unpacking I noticed that the heavy items were not close to my back as I usually pack them. The water source for the shelter was trickling so it took a while to filter water. It was a bit later than usual after we set up camp and ate dinner. The temperature was dropping as well with a chilly wind blowing so Coach did not perform a concert tonight. Shortly before dark Decadent arrived. He camped off trail and we passed him early this morning before he got going. He¢s targeting finishing the day after us so we¢re not likely to see him again. Otherwise we didn¢t see any other through hikers and not a lot of backpackers today either, although there were some day hikers.We all ended up getting in our tents early although I caught up on some journalling. When I got up for the final pee before bed it was supper foggy out which was a surprise given how clear it was when we got in the tents. Just three more days to our targeted summit date. It seems very weird to say we¢re summiting Springer Mt given it¢s small elevation gain compared to Mt Katahdin.Steps 41400Weather Forecast: 57/37 partly sunny