We ended our day yesterday at Byrds Nest #3. This has been one of the coolest huts so far! It had a fireplace inside which was perfect because it was still a little cold. We shared the hut with a guy named Mayhem. He works for the ATC and thru-hiked in ‘93. He was really cool and funny. Byrds Nest #3 had one of the best views of the sunset and when it got dark we could see the lights from all of the little towns below us. I took some pretty cool pics of the view.
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| This was actually at a different hut. I didn't get any pictures of the view last night. |
I could see so many stars last night (one of my favorite things about being out here!) You can see all of the stars because there is no light pollution! It's such a great view. I might look into getting some binoculars or a spotting scope.
Last night we started to run out of firewood so Mayhem suggested we go get some. All of us put on our headlamps and took off down the path a little way. It felt great to be out in the middle of nowhere, on a mountain, looking for firewood. We felt a little more comfortable with the situation because we were with a veteran.
We stayed up a little later than usual because we knew today was only a 4 mile day. Today was our rest day, a Nero, or near zero day. We listened to music and talked for a few hours last night. We heard an owl right by us. The sound was perfect. When I look back and think of last night I really feel like it was perfect; the sunset was amazing, good people, great fire, a ton of stars, and we laughed all night. It was one of the best nights on the trail. Mayhem is awesome and he helped us by answering all of our questions and made us feel good about our journey so far.
It was a very windy night so I had to get up two times to adjust the rain fly. The wind was blowing the food bags back and forth too.
Maggie and I went to Mary's rock today. It was only a .1 mile side trail and totally worth it. We took a couple of pictures on top. I love all the different views from the different parts of the trail.
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| Mary's Rock |
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| That's me wayyyyy up there!!! |
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| Bubbles on Mary's Rock |
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| Can you see the heart on the rock? |
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| A view from Mary's Rock |
It was nice to get to camp at 11:00 a.m today. We had all day to relax and look over the maps. Jeff and I started a big fire and collected enough wood for the day. We were alone most of the day but the hut eventually filled with four other people.
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| Making a fire! |
White Walkers stayed here last night. He was leaving as I was walking into camp. He said a previous hiker had too much food and left some there for anyone who might be hungry. It really helped us because we didn't have as much food as we thought. We would have made it to Front Royal but this definitely made it a little easier on us. I was happy to see graham crackers and chocolate icing packets! There were three unopened packs and they went great with the hot chocolate!
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| Thank you mystery hiker!! |
We ended our day with 81.3 miles! I'm so happy to have made it this far. We still have a long way to go but we all feel good about being out here. It's the best feeling to be here doing this. It's a different way of life and I like it!
Day: 8
Miles hiked: 4.4
Miles off trail to shelter: 0
Total Miles hiked on the trail: 81.3
Blisters: 0
Real Bears: 0
Deer: 11
Squirrels: 8
Chipmunk: 1
Snail: 1
