2021 Aug Section Hike - Day 2 - Brown Mountain Creek Shelter to Punchbowl Shelter- 10.5

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.

Leftover Pizza....the perfect breakfast. 

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.

       Time for me to take a nap too

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 hiked on, starting to slow down. It was hot, and I had to carry extra water because we were starting to approach a drier section of train. 90+ degrees plus limited water sources is a tough combination.

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.