Still Tweaking the Plan

Last night I met an extraordinary Trail personality. Originally from Lithuania, Pappy is an 87-year-old Korean War Veteran who has hiked all of the major trails in the U.S. He is now hiking the Appalachian Trail for the second time. He left Springer Mountain on March 3 (2 days after I did) and has caught up to me at Uncle Johnny's. And, he was already up and gone this morning when I woke up! It was fascinating spending time talking with him last night. Thank you for your service to our country and for our dedication to our trails, Pappy!

When I got up this morning, my back was bothering me, and I could tell right away that I needed to give it a rest. In addition, the group that was planning on slackpacking back to Whistling Gap where we left the Trail was splintering. Part of the group wanted to leave this morning and hike all the way back to Uncle Johnny's in 1 day, which would be about 26 miles. I knew that I couldn't do that with Forest and my back the way it was, and two of the other folks said they couldn't either. So, three went ahead this morning, while the other three (including myself) decided to leave tomorrow morning and hike back in a more reasonable 2 days. Once we get back to Uncle Johnny's, our plan is to shower, collect our packs and resume the Trail immediately, camping along the Trail or at the next shelter.