April 26
End: Maupin Field Shelter
Miles: 36.2
Total: 2697.9
During the night there was some rain, and in the morning it seems as if it were still continuing ultra lightly. I put on my new Frogg Toggs but they were not needed, so I took them off before even leaving the shelter.
At the first road crossing I found some trail magic left by Billy Goat and Ewe. I was not sure if this was the same Billy Goat who had been hovering around the Florida Trail in January.
Roads are followed by climbs, and this was no exception. The ascent to Bald Knob was no joke, and it definitely woke me up. After that everything felt like smooth sailing for awhile. I passed a shelter or two, and kept my eyes on the clock and the data book.
I was hoping to get to Maupin Field Shelter, but it was not going to be an early arrival due to my late start. I flew past the road to Montebello, which is a nothing town. Appropriately, the road is a gravel road which I doubt gets traversed daily.
The climb up to The Priest was not bad, but the descent was a bit steep at times. Finally the only thing standing between me and the shelter were Chimney Rocks and Three Ridges.
There was a continuous and difficult climb just to get to Chimney Rocks, and once there I had to make good use of my hands to ascend the rocks. Thankfully there were switchbacks up to Three Ridges, which I got to a few minutes late.
I descended quickly and made my way as fast as I could towards the shelter. As often happens when hiking at sunset, I was starting to get worried that I might have missed the shelter, and then I found it. I had yet to put my headlamp on though darkness had arrived, so I stumbled towards the headlamps I saw, which turned out to be those of Kevin and Kristine!
I was happy to see familiar faces, and we talked while we cooked. They had just arrived as well, and were surprised to see me. We thought it incredible that we had both left Springer Mountain on March 20th and had walked at the same pace by pure coincidence. I slept well after another long day.
