“What day is this?” asked Pooh
“It is today,” squealed Piglet
“My favorite day,” said Pooh
August 27, 2022
AT miles: 11.3
Ascent: 1126’
Descent: 911’
Weather: warm and sunny (low 80’s)
Sightings: chipmunks
High points: relaxing in the pavilion on Sunrise Mtn and not falling despite tripping multiple times
I got off to an early start this morning and left the shelter while the morning was still gray.
I walked past two other large orientation groups from Yale.
And then I climbed up Sunrise Mountain. The summit has 360° of clear views. Watching the sunrise from up here would be amazing. Additionally, there is a spectacular stone and timber pavilion — impressive, but it reminded me of the English “follies” that serve no discernible purpose.
I sat in the shade of the pavilion and had a snack and admired the incredible views.
For a short while the trail followed a ridge line, and I had some views. I love the feeling of space that you get on the ridge line.
The remaining 9 miles of today’s walk were frankly rather dull. Sometimes the trail went up and sometimes it went down. Usually the trail was rocky but sometimes it wasn’t. The trail twisted and turned.
I did see several SOBO’s and some day hikers.
The leaves on the trail were fluffy enough that when the trail was smooth I could even kick them as I walked along. When the trail was rocky, the leaves did an effective job hiding the smaller rocks, which explains why I tripped so frequently today.
Around 1:00 I arrived at High Point State Park, where I met the owner of Mosey’s Place, the hostel where I’m staying tonight. Mosey is a former thruhiker and she has turned her entire house into a hostel. I am sharing the bunk room with a homeschool family — mom, dad, and three teen boys. They are doing a flip-flop — in late May they started from High Point and hiked to Katadin. Tomorrow they start hiking south from High Point to Georgia, their home state.
Today is a great day for a long walk in the woods!