Day 30: April 20, 2021 (16.6 miles)

Max Patch - Deer Park Shelter

First day back on trail and damn does it feel good to be back out here! Waking up at Max Patch was incredible, the sunrise was beautiful! It was chilly so I tried to get moving fast.

Sunrise over Max Patch (prior to the camping ban that came later in the summer of 2021)

The trail today was so beautiful, and I hiked around the crew so it was just great. There were only a couple of climbs and they were both gradual, so it wasn’t too bad. I really enjoy how social today was, I hiked alone part of the afternoon but every time I stopped there were a bunch of friends. It’s amazing how being off trail for a week can make such a big difference in how things are blooming! Everything was so green and there were so many little flowers out and about.

Cold start to the day, bundled up to watch the sunrise

Party Dave said this was the most miles they’ve done, so it was a little intimidating to start back out with big miles. Thankfully I felt great today and it went by pretty quickly. The last 3 miles felt like they took forever, but thankfully I walked in on all my friends at the shelter so that was nice. We have a super short morning and are neroing and zeroing in Hot Springs and getting a party tub!

Thankful to have spent such a special morning with friends