Day 92

I have to give staying in a shelter credit. You can get packed up and moving quickly. You don’t have to pack up a wet, dirty tent either. That said, when the shelter is packed and everyone has their gear everywhere, it can make you feel like you forgot something after packing up. In my tent, I know how I spread out my gear. I know when I pack everything up in my tent and then fold up and put tent in my pack, I have everything. In a shelter with other people putting stuff all over, it’s harder to have a stable system of where your stuff goes and then to quickly pack up in the morning efficiently. That’s how I felt this morning but with that said, I already had 4 miles under my belt by 8am. I hiked around with Donuts again. We pushed on and met up with everyone at the last wayside on our way out of SNP. I got a couple lagers to drink with my chicken salad wrap. We had some big climbs today that should have held amazing views but as we got up in altitude we lost visibility. It got really foggy and then, even though the weather forecast didn’t say rain, we got soaking wet with dense fog and rain bursts. I wasn’t happy that my last 3,000 ft mountain climb until Massachusetts was socked in and once again I climbed a mountain with a great view and I could see absolutely nothing but gray. I sure hope I have better luck in the north. I pushed on a 20+ mile day today to a water source and then a little further to a nice big flat camping area. Donuts and I set up our tents and after dinner, we got in our tents early to chill out. Another guy showed up seeing our tents and came over to set his up as well. For dinner, don’t judge but it was one of the best I’ve had yet and it’s going to sound weird. I made a full package of Instant mashed red potatoes and mixed in half a bag of pepperoni minis and, for crunch, some Chili Cheese Fritos. Yes, not something you’d make yourself at home but out here it was amazing! To send it over the edge, I washed it all down with a tall boy New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA that I packed out from the wayside. So worth it! Tomorrow will be just shy of 7 miles to US Route 522 where a trolley runs a few times a day and will take us in to Front Royal. I have a hotel room reserved there and hope to get in early so I can get my town chores done and then I have a lot of Relive videos to create and post. After that, I’ll begin the trek to Harper’s Ferry. Along the way, I will go over the section known as “the roller coaster,” I’ll pass the 1,000 mile mark and I will exit the longest State on the AT, Virginia. I’ll get my picture taken at ATC headquarters in Harper’s Ferry, WV and hope to spend time there checking out all the US history sites there.