Avocado spent the night in the shelter and I hung my hammock nearby. We slept in a bit longer due to the late arrival.
Cheap Ridge Outdoors bugnet Hammock coupled with my dyneema tarp. Surprisingly comfortable hammock, and I slept pretty well for the first night on a trip.
It was a cool and moist start to the day. Forecast says its going to be hot.
Back on the trail and making good time.
Plenty of water on this first stretch of trail.
First break...it is getting hotter.
Yeah, it's hot. Maybe hiking in Central Virginia in August was not one of our better ideas.
While I filtered water from a nearby cold, clear spring, Avocado took a nap. Sometimes a nap is the best way to progress down the trail.
Cold water sucked through a Sawyer filter, with a pepperoni and cheese wrap...a fine lunch.
Fed, hydrated, rested and back to climbing the mountain.
800 miles from this point down to Springer Mnt, the southern end of the trail. We ran into a southbound couple who had hiked from Maine down to this Point. They estimated 37 more days needed to finish the remaining 800. Yeah, an average of over 21.5 miles a day.
We made it to Punchbowl shelter. Water was scoopable above the pond, and flowing decent (a bit green) below. I'm not a water snob....I gathered the water, filtered it...and survived. We hung our hammocks to escape the mosquitoes and went to bed early.
