Heading out from Tray it kept looking and sounding like rain. I hated to put the pack cover and and finally decided the breeze was too good to risk the socks not drying.

We’ve been making great time today and knocked out 5 mi before stopping for lunch at Sassafrass Gap. We put the tarp up since it was starting to rain again but now the sun is out and the sky is blue. There were also some interesting sights along the way. The paper wasps intrigued me. For example, while I’d seen the nests in trees before I’d never seen the ground nests until this hike. During this section I saw at least two.

We have a hateful leg ahead of us. It’s close to a mile to Addis Gap and then it gets ugly. Addis to Kelly Knob is almost 2000′ in 1.1 mi and then we drop 700′ to Deep Gap shelter. Today has been easy to moderate though the long downhills have been tough on me knee. The payoff at the top of Kelly Knob was worth it.

We’re in the home stretch,though, with only 3.5 mi tomorrow. Not as many people out as I’d expected with the holiday so they must be wisely choosing easier sections. 🙂