greenwall shelter to lost pond shelter

miles: 10.2

woke up a little bit before rags alarm went off at 05:45hr. it was cold, not quite freezing, but getting there. though i slept warm, i was starting to feel a little chilly, probably because i needed some calories. my sleeping set up worked well. i didn’t have to put it in full bag mode or grab my puffy.

we had breakfast and got on trail by 07:00hr. still not great, but we’re getting better. we’ve decided that on future trips like this we’re more interested in hot coffee / chocolate than food. also, the patagonia breakfasts a. are bland, and b. are too time and fuel consuming. they take two full cups of boiling water as well as a minute at a simmer.

on trail, we hiked a mile up to white rocks, which was a little overgrown, but still a stunning view.

we marched on, passing the rock garden again. i didn’t bother with many photos, as i spent far too much time here on my NOBO, and got nothing particularly good. the soft light isn’t conducive to a bunch of rocks that are all the same color. it’s a pretty neat place though.

we finished our climb, and descended down the no-name mountain and to little rock pond. we stopped on the north shore where there was sun, and as we had only 2.3 miles to our resupply took an extended snack break.

though it was warm in the sun, as soon as we started hiking along the eastern shore in the shade it was quite cold again. we stopped briefly at the shelter and then continued on.

the path up to little rock pond was full of hikers and dogs heading up for the day, and some for the weekend. we arrived at USFS 10 right at noon. syd arrived only minutes later. in no time there were open boxes and food strewn all over the grass. once again i’m thankful for the weather.

syd brought us our resupply, as well as our late requests for gummy bears and chips. she also brought some of the best tasting peaches i’ve had. perfectly ripe. we chatted while we repacked and snacked. it was nice to spend an hour with her.

we said our goodbyes and briefly headed up the road before turning into the woods. it was right now, less than 5 minutes after leaving syd that rags’ foot started hurting really badly. we took it slow and the pain finally abated enough to hike at a slow day 1 pace. we decided that we’d do our shorter planned day to lost pond shelter instead of pushing the additional 4 miles to griffith lake.

we limped along past big branch. i had hoped to swim here with rags, but with a high of 45f, the cold water was no longer enticing.

we arrived at camp early, around 15:30hr. rags soaked her feet and i set up the tent. we ate the rest of our resupply goodies, some apples and the last of the chips in a patch of sun near the tent.

hikers arrived through the afternoon, and by dinner 9 others, a number of LT through hikers, all of whom had also done the AT in past years, had joined us.

it’s supposed to get down to right around freezing tonight. it’s only 19:00hr, and it’s already quite cold.

some additional photos from today: