6.15.12 - Good Day of Hiking

Had a good day on the trail today. Woke up early and was out of camp about 6:50am. I really enjoy morning hiking more than any other part of the day. The water was down about 300 steps from the shelter and I heard it wasn't a pleasant trip, so I conserved my water and waited til I was 6 miles out of camp to a stream to get water.

Passed a few people along the way. Hiked a little while with Saunter and chatted. Then I took off for the stream and kept going uphill. Threw some music on the iPod to get me pumped up to get up those mountains. Caught up to Roadside who left real early this morning. Hiked with him for a little while. Willy caught up and hiked past us. I caught up to him taking a break by Rausch Gap Shelter trail, which was closed for maintenance. I went down to the creek to rinse my hair and face. Came back up to the trail and met Whistles, who was going south for a few days, but normally a NOBO. Sat around and talked for a while, and Roadside caught up. Left shortly after Crush showed up. Pretty rocky day today, yet I still think it's gonna get worse.

Hiked an additional 4.7 miles to a campsite near PA 443. Me, Willy, Crush, Golden, Wildflower, and Roadside set up camp and made a fire to control the bugs. They were bad today!

Might go into an all you can eat buffet tomorrow. Haven't decided yet.