Day 96-An Easy Day, Yet Not Easy

June 22-17.2 miles-campsite .1 from Kennedy Shelter to campsite .7 from Darlington Shelter-AT mile 1137.2

As I write this, there is a rip roaring thunderstorm going on outside my tent. Haven’t had one of these for awhile. At least the hatches are battened down, and we are all secure in our little houses. 

We had a climb at the beginning to Center Knob Summit. There really wasn’t much view. 

A fancy summit marker

Tiny view. 

From there, it was pretty much down into Boiling Springs. We did go through some corn and oat fields. 



You can see Sure Foot on the right. 

Oats and corn



Photo courtesy of Dusty 

Boiling Springs was a very cute town. 



Part of the old ironworks. 



Lovely walk along the lake. 

Heading up to the gas station to get a resupply (I didn’t really need anything, so I just got some snacks and some Gatorade).

At 9:30, it was already 80 degrees. After Boiling Springs, we had 14 miles with no water. It was also 14 miles with virtually no elevation gain. Basically, we were walking through a valley. We had been told a horror story by the caretaker at Tumbling Run Shelter how it was “17 miles through cornfields...all exposed, and no water”. The only part he was actually right about was the no water. Yes we went through some exposed areas. 



Had to step over the rows

Dusty through the corn


But, there was more trail through tree cover. 





A good amount of boardwalk too. 

Still, it was hot and humid. Because it was flat, and good trail, we made good time (even though we took breaks)

Some shade for a break. 

At one point, I caught up to Dusty while she was taking a break. We looked back, and could see some hikers coming. Turns out it was Blueberry, Green Bean, Fantastic, and Chili!

We hadn’t seen them since before the Shenandoah. They had just come back from a double zero at Blueberry’s home. It was good to see them again! Sometimes, during the day, we will wonder where people are. Dusty said she wondered where Thunderstruck was (first met her our first day in Shenandoah). Later on, who should we come across? Thunderstruck! I didn’t get a photo, unfortunately. 

We hiked the remaining 1.7 to where we were going to camp (near a stream). It felt good to rinse off in the nice cold water. Braids joined us an hour or so later. 

Today was quite possible the easiest trail day we’ve had. Even so, with the heat and humidity, it was not an easy day. A friend commented on one of my previous posts (where I mention that I don’t think this long distance hiking thing is for me), asking why I didn't think thru-hiking was for me. Today was a good example. It was really not a hard day, yet still, my feet hurt, my shoulders ache, and I’m tired. When I’m bike touring, I only have occasional times where I’m in pain. Sure, it can be exhausting, but at least you get to coast going downhill! There is no coasting in hiking! It’s all you, all the time. You can build up a seat tolerance on the bike. I’ve hiked over 1000 miles, and my feet have not built up a tolerance to plodding along every day! 

Anyway, I did find today interesting. It was definitely a change in scenery! At one point it was almost surreal as we were hiking on the trail in the woods, but it was going through an industrial area! Weird! Here’s something to add to the weirdness. 

See the thing over kind of by Dusty’s tent? That’s an old rusted car. How did that get here???




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