Day 23: Max Patch

Day 23

Painters Branch to Roaring Fork Shelter

Miles Hiked: 13.3

AT Milage: 257.0

This morning I hiked out of camp significantly later. I am not living up to my name of “Early Bird”. The first 2 miles up to snowbird peak were steep. Kentucky caught up to me and hiked with me to the top. There was an old air traffic controller building at the top which was interesting. I hiked pretty slowly today. I wasn’t feeling great due to the amount of junk food I’ve been eating. At one point I took of my shirt because I smelled so bad I couldn’t stand it anymore. I regret not washing it at Standing Bear, but I requested my sister bring me a new one when she meets me tomorrow night.

I reached Max Patch at 1:30. I sat up there for an extremely long time enjoying the view. I really wanted to cowboy camp on the summit but it is dangerous if the weather is not good because you are the only thing taller than a blade of grass for a significant amount of space. Cowboy camping means camping without a tent. In other words just laying down in your sleeping bag and staring at the stars. Flamingo and Ethan joined me at the view and we all hung out for a while until we saw a rain storm coming in. Whenever you are at high elevation and a storm starts it always sounds like the thunder is coming from right beside you instead of above you. I hiked the last 2 miles in my crocs again, however this time I took multiple falls because I slipped in mud.

The above photo was taken by Flamingo on his fish eye lense clip-on for his phone. I really want to get one of these for my phone so I can take cool pictures like this! They seem pretty easy to fit on to anyphone and use to take a wide angle photo and a super close up photo.

At the shelter I took a spot in the corner. We made a fire and cooked some marshmallows that I bought at Standing Bear and packed out. It was a pleasant and uneventful evening.