This mornings hike started along the Laurel river…with the rhododendron starting to bloom.

Laurel Falls was quite impressive.

Salty negotiating some tricky trail.

It rained a bit in the late AM then the clouds started to lift. We will hike around and along the lake in the background for much of the afternoon.

After a long descent we made it down to the lake and had a snack as the clouds lifted.

It was in the mid 70’s today with 90% humidity which made for some steamy climbs.
I felt surprisingly good at the end of a 22mi day with a lot of climbing, but I’m definitely ready for bed !

  This was our campsite next to the Elk River…just about perfect other than all the dew on the ground and tents in the AM.

This was a good looking shelter about 4 miles up the trail. I stopped for water and a quick bite to eat.

Such civilized hiking… a comfortable park bench to kick back on and enjoy the view (this had to be 15 miles from a paved rd. in either direction)

The View…
this is the ridge line and Balds we hiked over yesterday The trail made a giant horseshoe over the last 30+ miles.
A quaint little cabin, but a bit drafty.
There was a forest fire that came through this area the week before. We were glad it wasn’t worse and we could now hike through. It still smelled quite strong,like a fireplace that needs cleaning.
More great views

We finished our 19 mile day by 4pm at a road crossing and being that it was supposed storm around 5pm we decided to get a cabin at the Bear Resort 1/2 mile down the road. Plus, they had ice cream, cold drinks, and all sorts of other hiker goodness. Around 5:30 the skies cut loose and we were feeling pretty smart. Several other hikers arrived during the rain completely soaked (not as smart).

Inside our cozy cabin…we shared it with another hiker (AJ) from Littleton, CO.

It was great to get a hot shower and have the time and room to clean and organize gear. We weren’t expecting to have time to do a lot of these chores until we got to Damascus in 3 days. Damascus is one of the best Trail Towns on the whole AT, plus, it’s the first town we will hit in Virginia! It’s setting up nicely for us to have a short day into town for resupply, laundry and relaxing before heading out mid afternoon the following day.

Pretty much all the nagging aches and pains have gone away, even the back muscles felt better today. Hopefully, they stay away for good. That would make the rest of this hike primarily a mental challenge. As I say, hiking the AT is 20% Physical, 90% Mental 🙂