The days are really blending together, if I didn’t write up these summaries each night I wouldn’t be able to remember what happened each day. It was raining yet again when I woke up, so I stayed in the hammock until 7:30 am.
I finally packed up camp and was on the trail, in the rain, just after 8 am. The entire day was defined by rocks, mud, or both. I stopped for lunch at an overlook when the rain tapered off and decided to take part in a holiday. Today was the summer solstice, which is also International Naked Hiking Day.
Some folks celebrated by taking some pictures and getting dressed again. I committed to it and put in about 5 miles on the trail in the nude (tastefully covered with my daypack). I passed a few folks, some participating and some not but it was never a big deal. It added a little fun and break in the monotony of hiking.
I got dressed again when I started seeing signs for upcoming trail magic that were clearly drawn by some kids. The trail magic was great but I didn’t stick around long. Not too far after I passed the 1200 mile marker.
Stopped for dinner around 6:30 pm and realized how worn down I was. I still had some miles to cover though. If I did 26 miles today, it’s only 17 miles into Hamburg tomorrow – which seems like a light day compared to what I’ve been doing lately. My dad is planning to meet me tomorrow in Hamburg to catch up, so I don’t want to late getting to town.
The trail was completely swamped, a river of mud for the last three miles into camp. I skidded and ran down the trail in order to make camp at a decent time. I’ve found a decent clearing, and now that camp is set up I’ll pass out pretty quickly.
Day 99 Mileage: 26.7 mi [Rausch Gap Shelter -> Tent Site]
Total Mileage: 1213.5 mi
Thank you Paul again for sharing your hike with us – it is great to follow along – keep on keepin’ on!