Day 25

Cold Spring Gap to NOC 11.3 Miles.  AT mile 136.9

Card of the day – 5 of swords

Last night there was heavy rain all night.  It rained so hard that we started a fire to dry out Underhill’s shoes.

However, the clouds lifted for a beautiful sunrise, and then the clouds came back in!

We got out hiking and climbed for what seemed like forever to Wesser Bald.  Up there, there was another fire tower and this time I made it up.  Don’t get me wrong, I stayed in the middle the whole time.  But I was able to take photos of each quarter.

After the fire tower, you hike a couple of steep ridges and get some amazing views.  Like, spectacular views!  But the problem is the ridges were really scary for me with steep descents!  After all, I’m a wimp.  You all know this.

At one point, some day hikers said we look like we know what we’re doing and asked for directions!  If only they knew we were doing things by the seat of our pants!  They went off and we finished our “pack off snack break” only for us to catch them up and pass them.  Oh my, “I smell clean people.”  And I totally told them how good they smelt.

I don’t often talk about my Tarot card for the day.  After all, if that’s your thing then you get it and you know.  However, today was the 5 of Swords.  This is not traditionally a happy card, usually indicating things like betrayal.  So there I was sat having breakfast and worrying about what today had in store for me.  As it turns out, Chris, who had looked at the topography for the day, kept on exclaiming that this hill was the last for the day.  After about the fourth time I pulled him up on it, and after the sixth time it dawned on me what the card was all about.  Chris was betraying us by continuing to tell us we had done the last hill.  We were all laughing about it by this point, mostly to stop us crying at the continuing hills!

Shoutout to Chris’s mom and dad, Nancy and Glen, who received my post card from the Brewery in Franklin!

As we were in the long downhill section into the NOC, which also seemed to last forever, I could not help but notice the trees are green; spring has sprung.  There are so many different colours around in the trees and flowers.  We truly are blessed to be able to experience such beauty.

After what felt like miles of downhill, and it is about three miles actually, we finally got into the NOC.  Naturally we went right to the restaurant for food and beer.  As it closed at about 7:00, we got some beers from the general store and headed to the common room, where we had a good night playing cards. Well, that was until I was childish and chucked my hand in because I didn’t like the rules!

Still, you live and learn!