Day twenty four

Wednesday March 22, 2017

Well my new best friend Steve Braxton picked me up at my hotel this morning and dropped me back at Stecoah Gap. I was getting a late start 11:00 A.M. but at least I was facing Jacob’s Ladder at the beginning of this day rather than the end of yesterday.

Jacob’s Ladder is a legendary section of the A.T. Not so much for the length of the climb but rather it’s steepness. It just goes up and up. But I was well fed, and we’ll rested and with a clean bill of health I was ready to go.

I huffed and puffed right up that Ladder. I actually surprised myself with how few breaks I had to take. It actually felt good to climb. Maybe I’m finally beginning to get my mountain lungs. 

Once I cleared the top of Jacob’s Ladder I was moving. I was moving so well, in the zone, that I cruised right past the first shelter, Brown Fork Gap shelter. I never saw the sign or the blue blaze to the shelter. I guess I was zoned out and just cruising. This could have been a real problem if that had been the shelter where I had planned to camp for the night or where I had planned to get water. Fortunately I had only planned to stop there to have my lunch.

It was supposed to be only 2.4 miles from Stecoah Gap to this shelter. I’m hiking and hiking and thinking this is the damn longest 2.4 miles of my life. Fortunately I met a Forest Service runner coming in the opposite direction. She Informed me that I was a couple of miles past that shelter. Thank goodness. This meant that my distance estimations were correct. It also meant that it was only another four miles to Cable Gap shelter where I planned to stop for the night.

This has been a really good day. The temperatures were in the upper fifties or lower sixties, which meant that I could hike in just a long sleeve t-shirt and no gloves. I felt strong and positive. It felt good to be in the woods and hiking.

I made the Cable Gap shelter just before 4:00 P.M. I quickly found the most level spot that I could and pitched my tent. I’m now sitting on a log writing this. The temperature is dropping quickly. I think that it will be a chilly night. My fingers are not working so well because of the cold.

158.9 miles down      2030.9 miles to go