Day 128

Today was a hot, bug infested mess of a day with lots of rocks (Still better than PA since these rocks are solid in place and don’t move around when you step on them.) and most of the water sources dried up. What you could find was really tannic so it even filtered yellowish in color. Thank you to the trail angels and trail maintainers who put out water caches on trail for us. I definitely took advantage of one of those. I only had to filter one bottle’s worth of water that was slightly yellow in color. It’s fine to drink but it does have an off taste. Put a flavored electrolyte mix and it’s fine. I came across some blackberries today and ate a handful. There’s not many ripe yet. Maybe I’ll find more soon. What I could get were a tasty treat. I also came across a baby possum just standing in the middle of the trail. It wouldn’t move! It looked frightened to death especially when I stepped around it. It just watched me and I couldn’t see momma anywhere. Shortly after that, I saw a lady with a dog off leash so I let her know. I didn’t want her dog grabbing it. Today also took me around Nuclear Lake. This is what the guide says:

The peculiar name comes from a plutonium research facility that was once located on the shores of the lake. The facility was shut down in 1972 after a chemical explosion occurred. The area was tested and deemed safe before the AT was routed past the lake in the late 70s. Nowadays, the lake is a gorgeous destination for hiking (although you may want to avoid drinking the water).

I was tempted to go for a swim and see if I could gain a super power. LOL! Oh well. I was tired and wanted to head off to camp. It was a shorter mile day than I’ve been doing but the smaller climbs today were really rocky and slow going. I was beat by the time I made it to Telephone Pioneers Shelter. The only place left for me to put my tent was really sloped. Not ideal but I’m making it work. I have a lot of leaves under one side and clothing propping up a side of my sleeping pad so at least my “bed” isn’t as sloped as my whole tent is. I enjoyed eating dinner and chatting with Snowman (caught up to him even after my zero), Wizard, Snapstick and Perdido.

At mile 1,449.5. 744.8 miles to go.