Day 18 - Thursday, June 30

Linda

We woke up to rain at 7:00 this morning and decided to stay in late. It cleared off around 8:30 and the sun actually came out. Richard was trying to figure out how far to go today, since he only has a few days left before he has to be back in Florida for National Guard. We finally got on the trail at 11:45 this morning, and blitzed the first 5 mile in an hour and a half because it was all downhill. The trail was beautiful in that section. It wound through a conifer forest and followed a stream most of the way. The only disappointment was the strawberries were too small and too few to be worth picking. We did stop to take a picture of a sign that said "The AT Sucks". Seemed more appropriate in other parts of the trail, but we'll remember it for future reference. The last two miles were quite a climb up a lot of rocks, but there was a good view from the ledges.

When we arrived at Poplar Ridge Lean-to, we found the shelter in good condition, but the entire surrounding area was a sticky, gooey, muddy mess. Made it really hard to walk around. We all set our boots out to dry on the rocks in the sunshine. It looked like a boot ad in a magazine, so I took a few pictures of them. Who knows, maybe REI or LL. Bean, or even Vasque might be interested. Had a leisurely dinner, then talked for a while before going to bed.

Ron

With a low mileage day planned, we started hiking around noon on our way to Popular Ridge lean-to. The rain of the morning gave way to clear and beautiful skies. The trail down Spaulding mountain was beautiful for most of the way.

There were steep climbs up to Popular Ridge, but we were rewarded with good views. The lean-to is located in a sea of mud. This makes getting around to a messy proposition.

(7 Miles - 207.4 Total)