There must have been some sort of Maine convention
It was 1:07AM, and I awoke quite suddenly to the crunch of leaves outside of my tent. My body suddenly froze, wondering what could possibly be out there. After calming myself down a bit, I poked my head outside of my tent to discover a deer eating some leaves and sniffing around my camp spot. I relieved the tension in my body and slept until 5:50AM, when I awoke to start my day.
The trail from the campsite to Blackrock Gap, for the most part, was very nice. There were very few rocks or roots, and the elevation gains rarely took more than ten minutes to complete.
At Blackrock Gap Cookie and I decided to be rebels and walk Skyline Drive for a change of pace. Skyline Drive used to be the route the AT took, but with the creation of SNP came Skyline Drive, and the AT was forced to move. There have been numerous parts thus far where the AT parallels the road about 150-200 feet in the woods.
Skyline Drive provided a nice change of pace. All ups and downs were gradual, and there were plenty of nice views. SNP was essentially designed so that you would not have to leave your car to take in a nice view.
At Doyles River overlook Cookie ad I rejoined the AT. Our plan was to use a connecting trail to get to Loft Mountain Campground, where we would use the campground road to reconnect to SKyline Drive. At this reconnection point there is a wayside where you can buy cooked food. This is exactly what we did.
We arrived at the wayside around 12:00PM. I used extra change I've been carrying for a while to buy a bottle of root beer. I enjoyed my bagel and peanut butter with this root beer, and Cookie shared his chips with me. It seems that Cookie found ten dollars today while walking Skyline Drive, so he treated himself and me to SNP's famous blackberry shakes. It hit the spot and it was quite good.
In order to return to the trail, I had to walk Skyline Drive 1.5 miles to the next AT junction. Along the way I met two people from the Berkshire region of Massachusetts. I chatted with them for a bit then continued north.
There must have been some sort of Maine convention happening today because I saw four cars on Skyline Drive with Maine plates.
At the junction it was 1.6 miles, easy miles, to my home for the night.
I rolled into the shelter at 2:45PM, and I was perfectly content with stopping.
I have no need to make this trip end as rapidly as possible. This trip is my summer, so I will drag it out as long as possible once I am in northern New England.
I suppose I shall eat dinner now, as it is that time of the day once more.
Tomorrow I shall walk north once again.
Good night, and good luck.
Kirby
PS: I have seen three deer in camp thus far tonight. That brings my total for SNP up to six deer.
Ga>ME 2008.
