Appalachian Trail Day 69 – Hightop Hut – Big Meadows Campground

Appalachian Trail Day 69

Day 69, 05-07-01

Hightop Hut – Big Meadows Campground

20.4 miles, AT – 904.4 – 3,500 feet

7:20 AM 3:30 PM

60s, Cool

Last night was a cold one! I awoke at 3 AM to go to the bathroom and put on Al’s rain pants. He offered them to me knowing how cold it was going to get. I didn’t sleep much after 3.

John Kalhoun started a fire so that was nice. Hit the trail later than usual. Al threw his bag over me while he was packing his pack. Wow it was warm. I really appreciated that.

No great news or vistas. Just more great trail for the feet. My bothersome toe didn’t effect me much today. I saw seven deer (37) today. The first five were huge. No new birds.

We had lunch at a locked PATC cabin called Pocosin Cabin. It was really nice. You have to be a PATC member to use them.

Most people from last nights shelter went on past the campground another 4 miles. Al, Bill John and I stayed here. Crash, Burn, Surefoot, Easyglider, BA plus Tangent who was heading out here went on.

Right now Im really tired. The wind is picking up. I hope it doesn’t get too cold. I cant take much more of these freezing nights in this fleece bag. I’m really mentally tired too. I’m forgetting lots of things and it’s hard to concentrate. I can look at the map profile and 10 seconds later I have totally forgot what it looked like.

Scatman 2011- Fatigue and memory lose, more signs that the AT is an ass kicker of a first trail. The hiking in the Shenandoah was nice but I was tired. I could probably do 30 miles through there now and be less tired. The cold nights were not helping me. I’m sure I wasted a lot of energy and calories at night trying to keep warm. The only bonus was that the Shenandoah Park was filled with big campgrounds which had general stores and I was able to pig out a lot.

Unfortunately the photos from this section did not transfer well from print to digital, so no photos for a few days.

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Scatman

Get out there!