aklarsen11

A couple of people in our group stopped at the previous shelter, so we talked about stopping early today to let them catch up. However, I got an early start to the day and the first 8 miles flew by and I made it to Carter Gap Shelter at lunch time. There I discovered a 3 inch tear in the toe of my right boot. I remember tripping over a root on the trail. It must have ripped a hole. Luckily, there is a boot whisper at Franklin, so I guess I’ll get new boots there. That in combination with the time I decided to push on the Betty Creek Gap. However, when I got there I didn’t like the set up of the campsite. Usually there is an open space around a centralized campfire, but this place had a trail that shot off to little campsites. I wigged out and decided to push on another 5 miles to Long Branch Shelter. Hopefully I’ll eventually gain the confidence to camp by myself, but right now I’m enjoying the social aspect. It was a hard time up Albert Mountain. There were a couple points I had to throw my poles up to be able to scramble up a rock face, but I made it to the top and hit the 100 mile mark! Made it into camp shortly after 6, making it my longest day so far. 16.3 miles. Definitely need to stick with 10-12 for now. Thankfully, I just shortened my day for tomorrow where I’ll go into Franklin for rest and resupply.