Lily's birthday was last weekend. Jon and Luna hiked into town and we celebrated
Lily's 31st b-day the way she wanted: good eats, board games, hiking to harvest ramps and paddling along the French Broad. Needless to say, I'm thrilled to have married such a girl.
Jon and Luna's ramblin' ways inspired me to get out for a counterclockwise
rePEAL this weekend. Due to our attendance at MEC's graduation Friday evening, I started in the rain from the house a little before 7 AM on Saturday. Uwharrie looked a little too comfortable in her armchair, so I set out solo.
After a drenching rain for the first few hours, weather conditions improved to mostly overcast on the ascent up Black Mountain. I had been slogging my way in the mud past dozens of mountain bikers participating in the
Pisgah 111K race. Just as I wondered if I might bump into him, I spotted Charlie racing by.
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| Water levels up along the South Mills |
The vantage point from the suspension footbridge across the South Mills River hinted at what could be expected from the multiple fords to come. I didn't like what I saw at 11 AM, but decided to take a break and not worry too much about it.
One thing I looked forward to testing out on this hike was ~20-minute elevated barefoot "power rests" every 4 hours. I admit to once overlooking
Beyond Backpacking, but was thrilled to discover that the Transylvania County Public Library has a copy. It's been a welcome recent addition on the nightstand.
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| Squirrel Gap Trail |
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| Pink Lady Slippers along Bradley Creek |
The crossings turned out to be no problem and I soon found myself back in the mud along the 111K route. Upon arrival to Yellow Gap around 5 PM, I continued to coincidentally follow the route up Laurel Mountain. I leapfrogged a couple racers hiking their bikes up this relentless climb.