Flip Flop Hikers: The Sprout Day 13 (Saturday, April 9th)

Saturday, April 9, 2016

The Sprout Day 13 (Saturday, April 9th)

I wanted to get up super early and be on the trail by 7:30 - 8:00 but that didn't happen. I woke up early but went back to bed until about 7:30. We got on the trail around 8:30. Today was our longest day so far at 14 miles (including off trail to the shelter.) That puts us at 131 miles total!

It was cold last night and it's even colder today. It snowed off and on all day. I think winter is trying to make a comeback… I did see signs of spring all day though. Wildflowers are starting to bloom; hopefully this cold weather doesn't kill them. I'm loving all the different colors of spring.

Spring wild flowers

The flowers were all over the mountain side

Tomorrow we start the Virginia roller coaster. It's a section of the trail that goes up and down for 13 miles! It's going to be tough but I know we will be ok.

We got a message from Ox today. Unfortunately, he has to get off the trail anywhere from two weeks to two months due to a leg injury. He said he will summit Katahdin as soon as his leg is healed, hopefully we will run into him later down the trail.

We had to cross two highways today. I think it is weird how the trail changes from complete wilderness to suddenly crossing two busy highways.

We've seen a bunch of different rock walls randomly throughout the hike. I think it's old property markers from a long time ago. It looks like they were used to claim land. I wonder how long they have been there or what they were used for exactly.

Plants are turning green on the trail

North then South, just like our flip-flop hike!

Another cool crossing

We stopped by Dicks Dome Shelter for coffee. It was a small little spot but they were building a bigger shelter up the hill to replace this one. I think I'll give back to the trail one day. Maybe donate some time to help clean up a section or maybe help build a shelter. It's a great feeling after a long day of hiking to stay at a nice shelter. It's cool to see the beginning stages of a new shelter going up, so many people are going to be so thankful for a nice dry spot on a cold rainy day.