Jerry’s Cabin Shelter 1892.5 to Little Laurel Shelter 1899.8 (7.3 miles, 1899.8 total miles)
I attempted to get up at 7AM, thinking vaguely of trying to hike 27 miles into Hot Springs, arriving a day early. Yet I wasn’t vertical until after 9:00, feeling desperately tired and drowsy for some reason.
Normally by this point in the year, I’d be relying on a light for Seasonal Affective Disorder that helped regulate my circadian rhythms, combined with a sunrise alarm clock. As the sun rose later and later each day, my body was responding to that phenomenon and only wanted to get up when the sun was up.
This morning was particularly foggy and dark, so I made hot coffee with two packets of instant, where I usually only used one. I polished off the remaining cinnamon rolls I’d packed out, and tried to pack quickly, but somehow wasn’t ready to hike out till 11AM.
I was going to stick with my original plan of 16 miles today, and knew it was late, but figured I’d be okay since I’d left half an hour earlier than the day prior and was hiking 2 less miles, or so I thought.
I left camp in my full rain gear for the first time, including rain jacket, pants, and pack cover. It was barely sprinkling, so mostly it was for warmth, as it was a chilly and breezy 48 degrees out.
Drinking double the amount of caffeine this morning hadn’t made a slight difference to my tiredness. I figured it might just be a combination of hiking very fast the day before and waking up at the wrong point in my sleep cycle.
The day began up on the ridge, with a slight climb up and down past an overgrown dirt road and Lick Log Gap, arriving a couple miles in at the junction to a Bad Weather Bypass for the exposed area on Big Firescald Knob.
The fog had lifted somewhat by then, and I continued on down the AT through rhododendrons and up large stone steps that had my quads working hard.
The views began half a mile from the Bypass junction, though I could tell not long before everything had been socked in. The clouds had now lifted enough for lovely views of the mountains to my left and flatlands and civilization to the right.
There were several views to both sides of the ridge interspersed with sections that ducked under tree cover, with plenty of rocks to traverse over. I could smell a musty scent that seemed to me as if it might be the decaying wet leaves underfoot.
I stopped at one view to remove my rain coat and pants, now just wearing my normal hiking clothes. I was making very slow timing, as I’d kept stopping to use the internet and whatnot. 1.6mph wasn’t going to be sufficient to get to camp before dark.
A couple miles later I took short side trails to Blackstaff and Whiterock Cliffs. The former wasn’t worth the extra trip, but Whiterock Cliffs had quite beautiful views, and an elevation of 4,444 feet.
From the cliffs the trail took me on a couple miles of flat and uphill to another trail junction. I listened to an audiobook and a podcast for the last few miles, and began descending a couple miles to the shelter.
The first mile was gentle, but the last mile to the shelter was about 800 feet per mile, and my knees were really feeling it. I made good time on the last few miles, arriving at the shelter at 2:40, but my overall pace for the day was quite slow.
I used the privy, then sat in the shelter, deciding what to do. There were two or three very steep climbs up to the next shelter that I’d been intending on stopping at, another 8.5 miles further.
I still had to collect water and have lunch, and would end up arriving at the next shelter at or well after dark depending on the pace. I’d eaten dinner alone in the dark the prior evening, and knew if I kept going that would be the case for the second night in a row.
If I stayed at this shelter, I could have an early night, get some good rest, and it was likely that Iroh or another hiker would possibly show up. Iroh had texted me that the night hiking had gotten to him last night, and I didn’t have service but thought he’d definitely at least make it here for the night.
After I ate lunch, set up camp, and changed into warm clothes, I laid down in my quilt to write and watch some Netflix. It began raining around 3:45, and it was quite cozy in the shelter while it rained for the next hour or so.
A little before 5:00, I heard a noise from the trail, but didn’t see anyone. A minute later, I heard something next to me, and looked down to see a very wet Quasar looking up at me. He jumped up and proceeded to greet me very enthusiastically, getting mud and water all over my sleeping pad and quilt, but he was so cute I couldn’t be mad.
Iroh rounded the corner a minute later, and I was happy to see them both and know I’d have company for the evening. Iroh was out of food, so I have him three packets of ramen I had in my bag, glad I was able to help him out.
We caught up on our last few days while we ate dinner and darkness fell around us. I was glad I had done the shorter day, both because I had been able to end my hike in daylight and also because Iroh caught up to me. It was 19.5 miles to Hot Springs for Halloween tomorrow, and I was excited to get there.