Today: 10.4 miles from newfound gap to pecks corner shelter.
It was simply a beautiful walk today. A lot of walking along the ridges of the smokies which translates into: there is enough sunshine that the snow has melted and left us a mostly dry and level trail! An incredible experience!
The percentages I've wireless out in my head (known to be not at all accurate): 60% snow (30% snow, 20% ice, 10% mud) and 40% dry....so very slow going at times...we started hiking at 830am and didn't arrive at the shelter until 400. We did actually STOP for lunch along the way. I also took the time to take several photos...lovely views to be had along the ridges..passed by Charlie's bunion and had a group portrait done...
With all the ice, there were several falls and countless near falls. The terrain was very gentle and with sure fitting it would have been a much faster day.
At the shelter tonight there's the 4 of us and about 10 more we've never met. Dragonfly and onyx must've gone ahead. This shelter is about 0.4 miles of the trail, so I'm sure a lot of folks either stealth tented or just went ahead to the next shelter. So I should add in 0.8 Miles for Shelter travel...the privy here is new, even has handicap rails, with a step up into the "room"... : )
So with all the slips and slides today, I didn't fall until I arrived at the shelter and stepped on a muddy log...fell right into the mud...
Tomorrow is 13 miles to Cosby shelter.
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