Appalachian Trail: Day 34
Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored. All the gear mentioned in this post was purchased by me at retail prices. I have no affiliations with any of the companies or brands mentioned.
My day started with packing my food resupply in my bag and then having issues getting it into my pack. While I struggled with this, the rain started. The next town is Erwin, TN which is about 70 miles from Hot Springs, so that necessitates about 6 days of food at my current pace.
Once I got the pack situation sorted out, I layered myself with my rain gear and headed out. The hike started with a walk across the French Broad bridge where they were doing construction and got a little lost. It took a bit to figure out where the trail went.
Once I found the trail, it went uphill pretty steeply. Between the rain and the heavy food, I was hiking slowly. I didn't made my normal distance and didn't get to the first shelter.
I did make it to Rich Mountain fire tower. I climbed the tower for the views and to check it out for potential camping, but the top was too open so I climbed back down and made it to the next camp site for the night.
The rain continued through the night so it was a cold and wet night.