300 Miles!

Because I ended up zeroing at Hemlock Hollow, I took a little time to fish at Paint Creek, which runs right through the hostel. I caught five nice rainbow trout yesterday, and two wild rainbow trout and two creek chubs the day before. I've been putting notches in the cork handle of my Tenkara rod for every catch. Thanks again to James Carey and Tenkara Bum for the flies.

While I fished, Forest played in the snow. He rolled around in it for a few minutes and then threw it around with his mouth. It's so much fun to see a dog that works so hard, play just as hard. He loves the snow!

Today was mostly sunny and windy. We returned to the Allen Gap trailhead at a little before 10 a.m. this morning and began climbing on the Trail again. Forest was fresh from the rest and eager to go. We passed Little Laurel Shelter at mile marker 293.3, and continued on through Blackstack Cliffs and Bear Wallow Gap. We came across some rocks that looked a little sketchy and made me a little nervous not knowing how Forest would do. He acted like a pro, scrambling up and pulling me up after him. I lowered him down on the other side. What a dog!

We kept climbing to about 4,150 feet, where we reached Jerry Cabin Shelter (mile marker 300.1!) at Chestnutlog Gap and set up camp. Total distance for the day was approximately 13 miles. Every 100 miles is such a victory. If the weather cooperates, I think Forest and I will be hitting regular 15-mile days soon.

The only challenge continues to be sleeping, which is common to most folks on the Trail. Think about it--every night we are sleeping in a new, strange place surrounded by people we don't know. I'm still hoping to get out of the Bubble before too long, so there's more peace and quiet at night.