Day 92
Start: Pass Mountain Hut
End: Site near Compton Springs
Miles Hiked: 19.9
Miles on AT: 965.7
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I woke up to a dry morning today and was very grateful. The clouds from last night had looked a bit threatening, but they only deposited their water in the early evening, leaving my tent dry. Last night, I could hear the distant booms of fireworks going well past hiker midnight, but the clouds obscured any visual show I might have had.
Camping with me last night was Beast, a ridge runner who had hiked the AT in previous years. We chatted over breakfast this morning and had a wonderful conversation. She gets to hike for her job, which is pretty cool.
I was sad that I had to leave such a great conversation to get hiking; I definitely stayed but longer than I would have because I enjoyed her company so much. But, at 8:30, I had to say goodbye and hit the trail.
About a mile into my hike, a sharp sting lit my ankle on fire. What was that!? Apparently, I had disturbed an angry wasp and it stung me while I was hiking, and through my sock at that.
I hobbled around for a few minutes, clutching my ankle, waiting for the pain to subside. It took a while for the sting to become visible, but after a few minutes I could see the small puncture wound. Ouch!
Luckily, I’m not allergic to wasp or bee stings, so, when I could finally walk again, I kept on moving.
My goal today was to reach Elkwallow wayside for lunch. I had roughly 7 more miles to go and nothing else to do but hike.
As I was eating second breakfast about midway through my morning, an older couple with small packs passed me. They didn’t look like your typical day hikers; they looked to be around 65 or 70 and were moving fast! They weren’t normal!
I reached the wayside around 12 pm and indulged in a burger that I devoured within minutes. Yum! I was also geared up and ready to enjoy a famous Shenandoah blackberry milkshake, but I had chosen to get it at the wayside that didn’t even sell them. Darn. I consoled myself with a huge ice cream cone that was too delicious to take a picture of.
Up next was a climb up to Hogback Overlook. On the way up, I ran into the older couple on the way up and they were, in fact, not normal. They were thru hikers! Sparkles and G3 were slackpacking today and trying to get to Harper’s Ferry around the same time I was. See? My hiker Spidey senses were right.
At the top, there were still a bunch of tourists and day hikers around for the holiday weekend. A couple sitting on a rock were amazed at how small my pack was (and I don’t even have the smallest one) and even more taken aback when I told them I was carrying a 3-person tent. I love shocking day hikers 😀
At Jenkins Gap, I had only a few miles left in my day. But, I had to stop for good reason. Trail magic! A couple who had done the AT and met while on trail were there handing out sodas and candy. A perfect sugar boost for the last few miles.
After chatting with them for a while, I made the final push to Compton Springs and found my campsite. Yay! I could finally rest.
After setting up my tent, I took a walk a little deeper in the forest and saw the same beautiful red bird I had seen a couple of days ago. Magical!
Well, it was soon night and soon time for this hiker to hit the hay.
And that’s day 92.
A version of this post originally appeared on TheTrek.co.