Colonel John Mosby Campsite 973.1

Another late start into the day because we were waiting for the Wayside restaurant to open so we can get the footlong sandwiches!! 1010 calories packed in a ton of ham with a bit of cheese, both probably fake but it gets you going...
After a few yards on the trail we already saw a bear that was running away from us. At the rattlesnake viewpoint we switched from the Appalachian Trail over to the Skyline Drive. The main reason was because of the viewpoints along the drive, but also that it's flatter... Mile wise it's basically the same but it wasn't as much faster than expected and additionally we got a bit of a sunburn. So after about 8 miles of road walking we had some really nice views but we were more exhausted than usual because we were almost all the time exposed to the sun.

Right when we went back on the AT a man named Ken from Washington DC did some trail magic with ice cold Gatorade, popsicles and bananas. Perfect timing for a bit of regeneration :) From there it was just a short, easy hike to the next Shelter where we stopped for dinner. We also ran into Jon again and he shared some delicious (not fake) Chorizo and Manchego cheese directly from Spain with us. And we shared some Knorr Chicken Fettuccine with him. Meanwhile he showed some pictures of his family, his house in Bilbao and his apartment in Torremolinos.
The last section for the day was a night hike to the Colonel John Mosby campsite about 5 miles later. Within the first mile we saw three!! bears. One wasn't impressed by us at all and it took him like two minutes to head off into the woods.
On the way to our last stop a guy asked if we are thru hiking and if we want a beer. It wasn't too bad for the fact that it was with watermelon :DRead more