Day 27

Day 27 (PT 12): 19 miles

I summited Flagg Mountain, the southernmost mountain in the Appalachian range, and finished the Pinhoti Trail. It was a good but sloppy finish day.

It was easy hiking until I got up near Flagg Mountain. When I got up around there, I must not have been paying attention and started walking on a side trail. I realized that the blazes on the trees changed colors, but didn’t think much of it since they’ve changed depending on the section of trail. A half mile later I realized I was on a fast track to a parking lot and was going to miss Flagg Mountain.

I bushwhacked back to the actual trail where I came upon the cabins on Flagg Mountain. Nimblewill Nomad is a caretaker up there, and is a bit of a legend in the hiking community. I’m trying to think of a sports comparison but really can’t. The man didn’t start hiking until he was 60 and now has hiked tens of thousands of miles in every part of America you could think of and last year became the oldest person to thru hike the Appalachian Trail at 83.

I talked to him for about 2 hours. It was incredible hearing so many stories and also a wealth of knowledge that can only come with that much experience.

After that, I reached Flagg Mountain and celebrated with half of a Natty Light tall boy. While up there, I decided I’d save half for the terminus, so I could have one beer on the last mountain in Appalachia and one at the terminus. The one downfall of this was carrying the open beer in my hand for a mile down to the terminus.

Also, as I was stoked leaving Flagg Mountain, I was not paying attention. I just started walking down a long sidewalk and ended up at a parking lot that turned out to be the incorrect one. So I had to double back to make it to the actual terminus. Between that and going the wrong way earlier, I added about 2 miles onto my last day.

Along with extra miles, I had a good ego check at the finish. It was a sloppy finish all around. I attempted a straight-arm long pour and it didn’t go too well. And I didn’t even really get a picture of it. Stay humble stay thirsty

Song of the day: best day ever-mac Miller