Oh, man, what a day to forget my camera. There were several great views to the east today--the best views we’ve had in a long time--and I forgot the camera.
The good views were partly due to the lower temperatures and humidity which reduced the amount of haze in the atmosphere. It wasn’t completely clear, but a whole lot better than it’s been. The views were of the river valley below, but it’s a narrow valley. The view also included the mountain ridges on the other side of the valley. Very nice indeed.
Gene dropped me off in Kent this morning for my southbound hike. Right away, I had a steep 1000 foot climb. I guess he primarily level terrain of West Virginia and Maryland are far behind us now and we’re back into some mountains again. I don’t recall there being any switchbacks on this section and there were many more rocks than yesterday. It was slow going and I was surprised that I had only covered a little more than a mile in the first hour. The second half of the hike was much better--fewer rocks and I was going downhill. Gene had the opposite of my hike--a more gentle, less rocky climb and then that steep, rocky downhill at the end. A hard day for each of us.
Gene talked to a couple young thru-hikers who were expressing their displeasure with the difficulty of this section. That made us feel a little better; not quite so old and inadequate.
We actually had a little bit of rain during the day. Certainly not enough to put on rain gear, but a few sprinkles a couple of times. As bad as I hate to hike in the rain, I wouldn’t have complained today. The whole area needs a good soaking rain. Everything is drying up.
Tomorrow is a rest day from hiking to get the chores done. Groceries is the first thing on the list. The food supplies are nearly depleted.
I think that’s it for today.
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