Day: 24

 

Yesterday’s Goals:

I am going to climb to Davis Mountain Shelter

 

Activities of The Day:

I woke to a flat mat again. I guess I’m going to have to get a new one. Darn! I woke early to a very cold shelter. I talked myself into staying in bed until 8:30 and started hiking shortly after nine.

I had a quick two-mile descent down to a half-mile road walk. When the trail entered the woods again, a car pulled up, and several people emerged. I thought they would walk the old rail trail next to the road. Nope, we spent all day passing each other. Either I was taking a break, or they were waiting for the trail of their group of six to catch up. Their pace wasn’t bad, and I enjoyed walking with them off and on during the day.

There wasn’t much to see today, so few pictures were taken. I did encounter this lovely box, though.

Box picture

I got to the trailhead before them and could not say goodbye to them. I’m sure it’s all right with them, though. Another half-mile road walk was from the trailhead to the next section of the trail. This part of the trail is built and maintained by the Alabama Trails Association. I am not very impressed with their trail-building ability.

Plaque picture

From the road to the shelter, which was two miles, 2/3 was strenuous and straight up; some parts were not blazed, and the paint was almost highly faded when it did have blazes. Some annoying climbs looked like this:

Picture of mounds

On parts of these mounds, the trail was extremely narrow. Then, the last half mile was a climb that worked my muscles down. I was exhausted just from those two miles when I got to the shelter. The rest of the day was easy, and I even went through several rock gardens. I made it, though.

Finish picture

Now that I am at the shelter, I have had several visitors; from the road, the following seven miles are on private property. This land is a prominent play place for side-by-side and four-wheelers. Several people have told me to expect visitors all night, along with the noise from their machines. It’s going to be a fantastic night!

At least I got to share a sunset with my boys via FaceTime.

Sunset picture

What’s Ahead:

Georgia! Georgia is only a short eight miles away! Then, the shelter is a mile after that. I’ll be sleeping in Georgia tomorrow night! The map shows a few challenging climbs but mainly traversing across the mountains. It should be easy enough!

OH! I will also cross the 175-mile marker tomorrow, which is the halfway point from Flagg Mountain to MacKay Trail.

Goals:

Get to the halfway point, to Georgia and the shelter! Of course, have fun doing it!

Stats:

Mileage of the day: 11
Mileage on Trail: 171/350
Days on Trail: 24
Number of Zero’s: 4
Number of Nero’s: 4
States: Alabama
Trails completed:
The good: I hiked with other hikers today!
The Bad: The last two miles and the people out having real fun.

Thank you for following along!