Day 277

Day 277 (AT 81): 23 miles

This morning was unusual. I woke up before my alarm at 4:30 and felt good and ready to go. I replaced the batteries in ny headlamp this morning so I could see much better then the 3 feet in front of me like last night. It felt like it got a little colder after the sun came out for a while. It didn’t really warm up and feel comfortable until afternoon. This is also some worthless commentary because the weather has been great comparatively.

I might have a new favorite spot on the AT. I did the Bigelow mountains today and they were marvelous. Not easy by any means. About 6,500 feet of ascent and descent in 23 miles. It’d take about a few more miles to get that much climbing in some of the hardest parts of Washington if I remember correctly.

It must’ve rained a little up on the high ridge last night or this morning cause some of the rocks were wet up high. While going down one I completely slipped but thankfully I used my cat like reflexes and grabbed into a tree nearby to save myself from falling a few feet and getting banged up.

I listened to a half of the buckeye game today and that was all I needed. That’s the way it should be.

After trying to hustle down the 3,000 foot descent I got down to the road crossing just after sunset. There was like 8 minutes of twilight and no cars stopped so when it got dark i accepted defeat and called a nearby hostel for a shuttle. I didn’t really want to stay at a hostel (really this whole stretch until I finish but especially not this early) but I wanted some real food and it didn’t really make sense to go back out that late. I need more sunlight.

After seeing the Bigelows, I get the hype about Maine. So far It’s pretty much just been so tough hiking with pretty leaves but not many epic views. That changed today. I knew it would be a bit of a shock coming back to the terrain of the AT compared to the western trails. It was, however I think I’m starting to get back in the groove of the AT.

Song of the day: 1000 hp-godsmack

Stay hard