This is literally the trail. It hugs the rock face along the river.
Miles Today: 15.2
Mile Marker: 423.9 Pond Flats
The majority of the day was uneventful. It's starting to get hotter and the humidity is brutal, but thankfully water has been plentiful. I hiked most of the day by myself. About 10 miles in I ran into a few hikers at a road crossing. Kick-it, a thru hiker from last year, was there doing trail magic. He had hotdogs with tortillas, Milwaukee’s Best Ice, and some store bought “moonshine”. I sampled all three so as not to be rude.
After leaving the trail magic I hiked with a guy named Tarzan for about 20 minutes. He had done the trail last year and was going to do the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) this year, but got a job offer. He's out here for a few more weeks enjoying the time off before he starts.
I'm trying out 15ish mile days right now, so often that puts me at odd places away from shelters. I'll likely be hiking out of sync with everyone else because of that for a while. I'll be in Damascus on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I'll run into all the hikers converging there.