June 8 Mile 645

After the revelry of the previous night, we didn't sleep so well, so slept in a little bit . But the quality of the sleep was poor, and out here I have learned you really need to have at least 8 good restful hours to do the hiking you need to do. The hike today started out as a "rerun" day, up the side of the range and long ridge hiking. But then they brought us out of the forest and had open meadows on top with fabulous views of the valleys. For most of the day we were right on the border of Va and West Va. A new state! We also got to all these thickets of mountain laurel that were in full bloom. It was beautiful, cause these thickets go on for some time. In Ga I'm used to flowers like this being gone by May, but up here we're still right in season. Also there are thousands of red flowers called fire pinks that border the trail. Very colorful. And today lots of rocks. Fields of them that become the trail. Slowly picking your way across the mini boulders can be maddening. Particularly, after last night. By the way, today several of the hiker/partiers that passed me by apologized.
for being so wild and loud the night before. That was very nice and appreciated.




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