pecks corner shelter to davenport gap shelter

didn’t sleep all that well, or at least it felt that way. i spent a lot of the night changing position to satisfy my twitchy joints. one person in the shelter snored and i swear it sounded exactly like a palm nailer. it was noisy, but ultimately i didn’t find it kept me from sleeping.

packing up and breakfast was uneventful. i left a few minutes before quick and had most of the morning to myself. again i was hiking in what looked like vermont high elevation. i stopped briefly after about 6 miles at the trailhead to a shelter and suddenly yogi appeared. he had left early. apparently bugs was down at the shelter. quick caught up to me right at that moment and was having a great time speed hiking. as we had close to 21 miles on the day i chose to keep my pace more moderate.

i tried unsuccessfully to chat with magz. as soon as i got signal and called her i’d lose it again. frustrating. i decided to listen to my first podcasts of the trail. i hiked along listening to darknet diaries. while i definitely still saw everything, and took photos, it was interesting noting what a different experience it was. i’ve been so enmeshed in the landscape, it was strange focusing on something else.

i made it to cosby knob shelter for lunch and ran into quick and rocket. about 15 minutes later everyone else arrived. we ate and schemed about taking a day in hot springs, about 2 days away, and doing a refeed.

i headed out from lunch and hiked to mt cammerer lookout. it had a fantastic 360° view.

i took a photo from each corner:

i could see, but not hear highways and towns, and had enough service to call magz and have a decent chat. a bunch of other folks from the crew showed up a little later.

the last 4 miles of the day was half the descent out of the smokies. i passed out of the fir forest and back down into the deciduous. the trail turned from sections of loose rocks to softer trail covered in dirt and leaf fragments.

i arrived at davenport gap shelter just after quick. it’s a strange place, almost no tent sites whatsoever, and the shelter has a chain link fence to protect from bears. apparently all the shelters had them at one point, and this is the only one left that still has it.

some additional images from today:

and one super panorama. (i don’t have photo stitching software on my phone, hence the 3 images)