VA AT hike #1, day 7

Start: Smith Roach Gap
End: Blackrock Hut
Mileage: 20.2 (+0.2 side trail)

This morning, my friend dropped me off at Smith Roach Gap at 8am. I made Loft Mountain Campground by 12:45pm and Blackrock Hut by 4:15pm.

Today, I climbed Little Roundtop Mountain, Loft Mountain, and Blackrock. I stopped by Loft Mountain Campground's camp store since it was maybe 50 yards off the trail and ate lunch there.

Today's miles were quick and relatively painless. The mountains flew by. Sadly, I saw no more bears though I saw two deer with antlers.

Tonight, I'm tenting uphill of the shelter. The water source is a piped spring which is running strong. There are three thru hikers (Colonel, Cheese Steak, and another fellow) and four folks vacationing in SNP. Two of the vacationers were playing card games, including Spit and Egyptian Ratscrew.

Since I didn't stay at Loft Mountain Campground but also didn't cancel it, I offered the reservation information to an older thru hiker hoping to stay there tonight. I'm not going to use it and it was already paid for; perhaps they'll let him stay for free.

VA AT hike #1, day 6

Start: Big Meadow Lodge
End: Smith Roach Gap
Mileage: 21.6 (+0.2 side trail)

I slept in this morning a bit, getting up at 6:15am. I chatted with my friend and we got breakfast in the dining room when it opened up at 7:30am. I was on the trail for a later start by 8:30am.

Today, I climbed up Hazeltop and Hightop Mountain. My original miles were 17.0 but I made some quick miles and arrived at my final destination by 3pm. I decided to push on and hike 4.6 miles further to the next road crossing and arrived at 5:15pm.

Today's miles were a bit dull compared to the past two days. It was fairly cool (70s and 80s) but it was overcast and muggy. I encountered two thunder storms with turential downpours between 4pm and 6:30pm, as I waited for my friend to arrive to bring me into town.