Clyde Smith Shelter

It was pouring, foggy and miserable this morning, but I packed up camp and got ready to move at the first break. The woods are hauntingly beautiful in this weather and during this season, but I have to keep my eyes on our goal for today, which is a shelter 10 miles away.

We headed out a little after noon and were eventually rewarded with breaks in the clouds that gave way to a beautiful day. We took a quick rest stop at Iron Mountain at about 5 p.m. As usual, Forest took advantage of the time to grab a quick snooze.

I took a great video today while I hiked. Very pretty views and no talking, except for at the end when I suddenly took a soft fall. All I had to say was, "Forest, come" for him to turn and stand by me and "Brace" for him to take a solid stance so that I could support myself on him to get up and stop the video. Even with the distraction of all of the hiking we have done, his training still shines through. This skill is especially helpful to me at times like this when my back is not 100%. Cell service is in and out and weak when I have a signal at all. I'm still working on a way around this so that I can transfer videos like this to the folks at home.

We made it to Clyde Smith Shelter (mile marker 370; elevation 4,418 feet) tonight at about 6:30 and set up camp. I just need to repeat this progress each day, grab the packages waiting for me at my resupply stops and keep moving on to Damascus, VA. Only about 100 miles to go to that next huge milestone!