Day 12

Okay, so, change of plans. I had a small hike planned to Tray Mountain shelter today. That would have been less than 6 miles. Then a longer day tomorrow to leave 3.6 miles to Dick’s Creek Gap to go back to the hostel on the 8th. Weather has changed that plan. It’s going to start raining early tomorrow building to a thunderstorm by 3pm. Because of that, I pushed until I made it to Addis Gap for over 12 miles (once you add in the long walk to the water source near where I pitched my tent.). This sets me up for only 5.5 miles tomorrow to Dick’s Creek Gap a day earlier than expected. I hope to get a shuttle ride from there to town so I can find a hotel with a room at a hiker rate and let the storm pass. I still have the reservation at Around the Bend so I guess I’ll have a zero there while the rains continue to pass. Sounds like I’ll be dealing with some of my coldest nights once this front passes. I’m proud of myself for the distance I put in today. A good portion of the trail was absolutely wonderful, meaning easy to walk without a ton of rocks. The climbs were really brutal though. All the good spots were taken when I got to camp so I’m set up on a slant that is a bummer. Definitely the worst camp spot to date but it’ll work. I have to climb Kelly Knob first thing in the morning (hopefully not in the rain), which is a very steep climb to the top of the 4,144 ft peak.