Sunday, September 25th, 2016
Start: Hemlock Hollow hostel
End: beyond Rice Gap
Miles: 24 (+0.4 for water) (~5,000 ft of elevation gain)
[Yesterday, when I pulled off the trail at 7:45pm after dark to set up camp, I didn’t have the energy to do anything other than cook food and go to sleep.]
I started out from Hemlock Hollow hostel by 7am, on trail by 7:15am. I climbed from Log Cabin Rd (2371′) up to Jones Meadow (4750′), down to Firescald bypass (4182′), up to Big Butt Mountain (4812′), down to Flint Gap (3449′), up to Flint Mountain (3557′), down to Rector Laurel Rd (2938′), and then up to Lick Rock (4541′). That final climb nearly did me in. I stumbled along in the near dark and missed the campsite at Big Flat (4267′). I ended up camping out somewhere beyond Rice Gap.
My cooking didn’t work out quite right and therefore, I had crunchy rice… At least I had a few bars of cell service, though I totally passed out while texting at 9pm and woke up at midnight with my phone on my chest.
Transcending Mountains 