top of page

Day 53: May 13, 2021 (15 miles)

Grayson Highlands Inn - Amber's House in Mountain City, TN


Today should not have been a better day! After all the ups and downs recently I'm so thankful for a solid good say. I woke up feeling great after sleeping in a bed and Dennis made us a bomb breakfast before dropping us back off at Masie Gap around 10am.

Truck bed hitch back to trail from the Grayson Highlands Inn

The weather was beautiful and the terrain was gorgeous; Grayson Highlands is such a pretty place! We saw lots of ponies and of course had to take a ton of pony pictures.

Lots of pony pets in the Grayson Highlands

Other than last weekend with my parents, the only time I've been to Grayson was on my 1st ever backpacking trip in college. It felt super nostalgic and made me proud of how far I've come.

Beautiful day compared the the wet snowy day the day before

Me, Good Job, Lady Bug, and Oats all crossed the 500 mile mark together and took pictures. Since we're going south we'd already fone well over 500 miles, but you can't pass up a photo opp.

500 mile marker

As the day went on the views just kept getting prettier and prettier!! We met a section hiker named Headlight doing trail magic at Whitetop mountain and he was so excited to interact with thru hikers.

Oats, Headlight, Good Job, and Cotten Candy. Thankful for trail magic!

I hiked alone the rest of the day and felt so good. I reflected a lot on how much my mood fluctuates out here; the good days (like today) are so good and there's no doubt in my mind I'll reach Katahdin, but the bad days are so tough I want to get off trail ASAP. I hiked down to a road crossing where my 3rd cousin, Amber (who I've never met), picked me up, took me out to an all-you-can-eat buffet, and let me spend the night with her family.

First time meeting my 3rd cousin, Amber, and she was such a kind and gracious host!

Perfect end to a great day, really excited to see friends at Trail Days!



Comentarios


bottom of page