Mile 938.8
Elevation 3,251
Miles Hiked 10.9
I went over the 400 mile mark for this year’s hike. Well surprisingly, last night went pretty good. No snorers and no loud sleep pads. I got a good night’s sleep. It’s still cold with the temperature in the 40’s.
So I’m off by 7:45 AM and on the way to Skyland Resort for breakfast. The resort is about five miles away. Another hiker, Fleet Feet, and I arrived at the same time, so we got a table together. Fleet Feet is a young guy going to MIT on a football scholarship. He’s a really nice guy who loves to talk sports, so we had a good conversation about the basketball finals and Tom Brady.
Ah, breakfast and the hiker appetite. The resort had a buffet. Big mistake Skyland Resort. At $14.50, we could have pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, grits, bisquits and gravy and fruit. I had some of all along with orange juice and hot chocolate.
After breakfast, about ten hikers just hung out in the lobby, charged phones and talked. I caught up on my blog. At 12:15 PM it was time to go. I was about seven miles from my target hut for the night.
A little before 4:00 PM, I arrived at the Birds Nest #3 Hut. I was the only one there. Almost all the hikers said they were going on to another hut just 4 plus miles further north, so I knew there may not be too many hikers showing up for the night, and that proved to be accurate. As it turns out, it was only me, a hiker from Luxembourg, and an 18 year old thru hiker.
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- That’s me and a couple of other hikers
The night was cold – probably in the 40’s again. This particular hut was unique with a fireplace. We built a roaring fire that would probably last most of the night. No snorers (they say) so this should be another good night.
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- Fireplace at Birds Nest # Hut
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- Cold night, big fire at the hut
