“A Beautiful Thing”

AT Day 7

Miles: 24.17

Total Miles: 171.38

(3 miles south of Lake Fontaine Dam)

I had planned to maybe wake with the other five hikers I was with last night, have breakfast, and possibly head back to trail together. But I was restless through the night last night. That always tends to be the case for me when I’m not in my tent on a long trail, especially when it’s a shared dorm type situation.

The others I was with were mostly younger, and although the younger energy was fun, it was also apparent as I was trying to pack it up and get to sleep. But it was fun to be with some others for a bit. Nick, the first hiker who I met of the five yesterday, has done the first 300 or 500 miles of the AT last year and was able to tell me a lot about Trail Days, which is a thru hiking weekend event that takes place in around a month. It’s something that the PCT and CDT had as well, but I missed both of them, and never had much interest in attending. I’m quite looking forward to attending this one though.

I was restless through the night and I was restless when I woke up this morning. Nick had some instant coffee that he was kind enough to share, as I was out of my own until my next resupply, but soon after that I was back to trail. I think that they were planning to get to trail around 9; I ended up on trail about an hour before then. I wondered a few times as I took breaks through the day if I’d end up seeing them again or not. I did not. I hope to see them at Trail Days though.

Most of the day I hiked alone, except for about a mile or two that I shared with a German dude named Navigator. He was kind of funny, and remarked about my packing two non alcoholic beers up the mountains today. I drank both of them on trail at different points.

I talked to a few other hikers at the shelters. I had dinner at one, and then walked by another one where several were set up to camp. I’m starting to get a feel for the social culture of the trail, and where/how to meet others. I just need to step off trail and go to shelters for breaks more often. That and trail towns.

Tomorrow I’ll reach Lake Fantaine Dam. I guess it’s a little resort or something. I really need a food resupply to get me the next 2 days to Newfound Gap and Gatlenburg. So if I can’t get what I need from the general store at the lake tomorrow morning, I’ll need to hitch a bit farther to get somewhere that has a better food selection.

It’s becoming summer. The flowers are starting to come out. Leaves are budding more. There are more birds in the morning. It’s a beautiful thing.

Wormwood.