✨️ The roller coaster !!! & a 1000 miles already behind me 😄 A big rainstorm in the middle of the roller coaster 😅
Day 79: Whiskey Hollow Shelter to Bears Den
Mile Marker: 1005.8 Miles today: 18.5
Had a late start around 9AM ….I woke-up sooo excited for the day since it is the day of the infamous “roller coaster” !!! It’s about a 12.5 miles section consisting of over 3500 vertical feet of steep up and down hills, mostly 300-400 foot climbs and descents.
Starting the day, I could smell something really sweet in the air… Honey suckles where everywhere!!! What a great odor….I wish I could share it with you. A little later, got treated to some trail magic…right in the middle of the trail!!! What a nice surprise & so appreciated.
Entered the roller coaster at around 1:20 PM. ✨️Mid-day, I hit the 1000 mile marker!!! ✨️Wow, 1 thousand miles hiked. That sounds so crazy!! and still more than half to go😅
Around the end of the day a massive BIG rain storm hit⛈️ It was intense. I also took a big fall & hurt my toes on the fall. I stayed down for a while…to be honest, I also cried…I think it was me being tired…and overwhelmed.
We called it a day when we passed near Bears Den hostel… Yup, decided to stop there for the night. I wanted to do more miles, but hitting the rollercoaster as well as the 1000 milemaker & the rainstorm, is was a big day !
Day 80: a rest day in a lovely town
Mile Marker: 1005.8 Miles today: 0
A well deserved zero day! It was not planned, but happy I took it. Some people from the hostel & I went to Winchester. What a nice little town. I really liked it.
Made a stop to the local outfitter & went for some pizzas!!! Unfortunately, other people where busy with some testing for ticks….what a nasty thing those are. I really hate that people can get sick from them… (an other story…).
Once we got back to Bears Den, we got a good spaghetti diner trail magic ✨️ The rest of the night was spent relaxing & a nice bubble bath !
More pictures for each day: jess.s.explores