Day 39

Today as expected to be a pretty uneventful day but turned out quite nice. (The tent picture at the beginning should be at the end as it’s my final setup for the night. Good camp spot and so far, it seems I have the whole area to myself. I’m right next to the trail near a water source though.) So the day started COLD! I just didn’t want to get out of bed even to see the sunset. I got a little bit of the color from the view inside the tent. Today was set to be a “setup day” for tomorrow. What I mean by that is I knew there wasn’t anything big to see along the way today but if I could just do 11 miles today to this camp spot at mile 297.1, I’m set for an AMAZING day tomorrow. Not on only will I hit the 300 mile mark but in 1.5 miles from where I’m camped is the bad weather trail (I will NOT be taking that) that splits off from the main AT trail. Reason being, the main trail is going to take me onto an exposed ridge line which is a bit of a rock scramble and I’ll be able to see NC on one side and TN on the other with massive views. It ended up a little cloudy today so while I could have pushed and hit that milestone today, I’m glad I am waiting. It’s going to be be worth it to do in the morning while I can take my time, enjoy the views and it is supposed to be sunny and calm. I’m so excited! Okay, back to today… so it did take me for a loop. I wasn’t expecting today to be big on the “trail magic” theme. First, I knew I was coming to a private road near a cabin that my AT Guide says is private property so simply cross the road, stay on the AT trail and don’t trespass. Well, whoever lives at that cabin put out a table with a register to sign and a Tupperware container full of individually bagged homemade cookies and a sign saying today’s cookie was “peanut butter.” Yum! I definitely grabbed a cookie and signed the register with a thank you. Then, at the last shelter where I last expected it, two guys had one of the nicest trail magic setup I’ve seen in a while. They cooked me a hot dog, gave me a soda and a beer, chips, carrots, baked beans, which to make it easy, I put ON my hotdog with mustard and cheese… OMG, that was amazing! There’s no road close by. These guys hiked up to that shelter with all that stuff. I’m amazed but very, very thankful. It got me up over that last major climb and now to camp. I’ve eaten, hung my food bag in the tree, finished all my chores and ready to get an early shut eye ready for a big day tomorrow. Until then…