Monday, October 7, 2013

Day 78: Kirkridge Shelter to Smith Gap Road

Today's Miles: 17.3
Total Miles: 920.3

I got a decent start this morning and left the shelter a little after Chicory. The day began with some tricky navigating over Wolf Rocks, but it quickly flattened out minus some small rocks for the remainder of the day. I can deal with the small rocks better than the large ones. They are mostly avoidable if you're careful where you step, and I'm glad I have a good pair of shoes for it. It would probably get a little old with a pair of trail runners, so it seems a good tread is key. 

It didn't take long to reach Wind Gap, and I stopped shortly after the ascent out of it for lunch. I only had about 7 miles left. The rest of the day was rocky, but flat. I was able to make pretty good time, only slowed by the massive amounts of spiderwebs in the middle of the trail. I figured Chicory must have gotten off in Wind Gap, or these spiders are crazy to have reconstructed that fast. They were all complete spiderwebs and I felt a little bad about having to destroy them all. I spent the remainder of the day with my poles in front of me, knocking down the webs before my face was required to. The forest I walked through was actually very pretty, and I was a little saddened that I had to spend so much time looking down at where my feet were landing instead of enjoying the beautiful fall colors that surrounded me. 

I reached Smith Gap Road around 3:30, where I would be meeting John Stempa for a shuttle to Easton. I walked towards his house, and had a nice gentleman pull over and offer me a ride. I politely declined since it wasn't too much further. As I talked to him, John conveniently drove by, so I hopped into the backseat with his two dobermans. John had his son in the car who was on his way to School of Rock band practice, and he showed me all kinds of great videos of their performances. John dropped me off and told me about some of the places to check out in the area. I went to the bus station to get my ticket and proceeded to the bathroom to wash up some. I did what I could, and even tried to wash my hair in the sink. I passed some of the time by getting something to eat and walking around the town some. I now type this from the bus, where my long 13 hour journey has started. I looked up at the almost full moon as we drove away, thinking about how bright the night would be if I were in my tent tonight. I'll be off the trail for about a week for a wedding, my last scheduled departure from the trail. I'll get to come back and play catch-up all over again when I return. 

MRE trail magic? Gross.

Wolf Rocks



A fallen birds' nest



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