Day 5

Starting mile 43

my next couple of days fairly easy with two 13.5 mile days. This will get me to a camp site just a mile from Dicks Gap. This should give me a nice relaxing day on Tuesday.

This I got moving at my normal 7:15, about 20 minutes before sun rise and headed up the trail. I was kind of surprised that four or five people beat me out of camp, I’m usually one of the first people out in the morning. Knowing I was only going 13 miles I figured I would take it easy, and luckily the terrain was relatively easy. The one big climb was up to Blue Mountain and that was only like a 700 foot climb. Then I had a long decent into Unicoi Gap.

When I got down to Unicoi Gap I ran into Paul with some more Trail Magic. I had a wonderful burger and some chips. This really hit the spot  I sat there talking with Paul for about an hour because I only had another 4 miles to camp. He is from the Atlanta area and has always wanted to thru hike but can’t for health reasons. Instead he comes out a few weekends every year to make food and hear stories. People like Paul is one of the things that make this trail so special.

I decided I ought to get going because I had a 1,200 foot climb to get to my camp. It was a long tiring trip up, but at least I had a full belly. I finally made it to camp about 4:30. I was met there by “Rebate” who I have been hiking around for a few days and a gentleman from Florida who was going much slower than the two of us.

All in all another great day on the trail. We have been really lucky with the weather so far, but they are calling for some rain next week 

Ending mile 56.4