Days 25-26

Day 25

Allen gap to flint mountain shelter

18.8 miles, mile 308.5

We said a sad goodbye to mom and Ethan this morning and hit the trail around 9:30am. Yesterdays zero was amazing and I had the best time doing nothing but hanging out. My quad felt a lot better after some rest and I’m hoping it will stay that way tomorrow. Today was interesting, we were up on an exposed rocky ridge and then walking through grassy fields. We also hit mile 300! Most of the elevation was in the beginning of the day which was nice. We didn’t see many people today or much wildlife, just walked along and I listened to some of the second Harry Potter audiobook. There are some chatty guys at the shelter that we haven’t run into before who came up to us when we were pitching our tents. He told us the elaborate and very long story of the first “trail breakup” they’ve witnessed of a couple. Oh the drama! I was multitasking and setting everything up for dinner and in my tent while he told Kevin and I the (very long) story. I strategically am eating my chicken pho soup for dinner since it is the heaviest of them all at 6.7oz. My pack will only get lighter from here! I will certainly miss the bed at the rental house tonight. Thankfully it doesn’t seem like it’s going to rain for a little bit.

Day 26

Flint mountain shelter to bald mountain shelter

18.9 miles, mile 327.4

I was dragging up the last climb up to big bald mountain, but man is it beautiful up here. We decided to do dinner up here with the view and then continue the last 1.2 miles down to the shelter. I would camp up here but the wind is whipping and I feel like my tent stakes would blow up. Today was long with a decent amount of elevation but we did have some good views. A thru hiker named food truck is camping up here! He got his name because he carries 25 pounds of food per resupply, and he eats it all. I feel like you guys are picturing a big dude, no, he is a normal guy who is bottomless pit. He also gives out food to people who are running low. Some pups just came up here and were very interested in our food and I of course gave them lots of pets. My new shoes are doing well so far and I hope they’ll last me longer than the last ones!