Day 41 – Lost Mountain Shelter to Deep Gap

The rain held off through the night and I slept well from 9 until about 3 and then from 4 until a bit after 6. It was enough. We had another lazy morning in camp, heading out a bit after 9. My PF hasn’t been getting any worse, but it also hasn’t been getting any better. Katie has some killer blisters on her feet. We’ll limp to the finish line for sure.

The hike today was divided into two parts: hiking to and up Buzzard’s Roost and everything after that. The first couple miles would have been pretty cruzy weren’t it for us both getting our feet used to walking again. Then we got to the climb, which wasn’t terrible (1800 ft over 2+ miles) but still we took our time, getting to the rocks for lunch by about 12:30. We saw some other hikers we’d seen through the day also up there eating lunch – it seemed everyone had the same idea.

We moved on a little after 1, stopping at the spring just off the peak to filter some water. As we made our way down off the mountain we came to a road and as we crossed out a sign for trail magic. We followed that sign to the bus in the parking lot where there were at least 15 hikers hanging out and 10 or so trail angels. She-ra was there and she let us know it was her tramily from previous hikes. We each had a Yuengling and a hot dog, saying thanks as we left.

The last 4 miles was fairly straightforward with a walk across a field as we could hear thunder in the distance as the only dicey part. We made camp around 5:30, each getting setup about 10 minutes before a deluge. The rain, thunder and lighting lasted about a half hour and the temp dropped about 10 degrees after the rain went through. I spent some time trying to find the spring and then made dinner, which was super easy since there was a rock in can that was perfect table height.

Tonight is my last night on the trail as an AT through hiker in the class of 2024. When I step off the trail tomorrow it will mark the end of this attempt. I’m grateful for the opportunity to try, the things I’ve learned along the way and most of all for the friends that have followed my (mis?) adventures and that I’ve made along the way. The trail does indeed provide.