Day 26
Spring Mountain Shelter to Little Laurel Shelter
Miles Hiked: 8.6
AT Milage: 294.5
This morning I woke up at 7 and listened to the rain hitting the tent hoping it would stop. I didn’t start packing up things until 7:20 knowing that the rain would continue all day long. As I was packing up I was very happy to find how dry everything stayed in the new Duplex tent made by Zpacks that I shared with Emma, then I discovered a puddle in the corner of the tent. We decided that that puddle formed because I had my own tent in a bag pushing up against the tent wall allowing the water to drip inside rather than run off. It was after 8 by the time we left camp. I can’t believe how slow the rain makes me move in the morning.
Our goal was to hike 16 miles, but we ended up only hiking 8.6. When we got to the shelter we were surprised to find that there were empty spots and we were all soaking wet with no promise of the rain stoping. We quickly set up our sleeping bags and took a nap. The shelter quickly filled up with other hikers and people started setting up tents. I am so thankful to have a warm and dry spot tonight.
There was only one person at the shelter who I had met before. His name is Spider and he hasn’t taken any zeros either. I found out that I am only four days behind “the bubble”. “The Bubble” refers to a large group of thru hikers who started around the same time near the most popular date to start the AT. Because I am hiking faster than them I have caught up considerably and will probably pass many people. I have already passed a great number of hikers who started around my theoretical starting date. Most of the people at the shelter tonight started in early April. I have been on trail for 26 days now (not including the time I had to go back to school) so my start date would be April 15th. Almost all of the hikers here with the exception of Spider stared before the 10th. I met a few who started on the 3rd.
Happy Trails!
Des Hikes Thru 