Day 25 (Wednesday, May 7th) - Painter Branch to Brown Gap USFS 148A

Today's Miles: 7.70 
Trip Miles: 250.60

Lady Slippers

After yesterday's 20 miles, a lot of sore feet and tired legs. We had planned on 13 or 15 today, but had to settle for 8.

Kind of a tedious hike; lots of trees, lots of green, and limited views. Instead of wide vistas, I'm looking at the flowers up close. There were a pair of Lady Slippers right next to the trail; they reminded me of my mom. We used to see them sometimes down in Halifax at the camp, and she told me they were rare. I didn't see any more the rest of the day.

We took a long lunch at Groundhog Creek Shelter. Another hot day, so it made sense to rest at the height of the day. There was a nice creek there for soaking our feet. We stayed for two hours.

Natalie's injured instep/ankle

As usual the last couple of miles seemed to be longer than the rest. We walked into Brown Gap more tired than we should have been. The accumulation of miles taking its toll.

The water source was kind of iffy, but I found a somewhat better one a hundred yards up an old gravel road. The drainage ditches along the road were filled with tadpoles. We watched them swimming around for a while wondering if they were edible. Food is a major topic out here lately and anything with flavor is discussed as a possibility. Nah.

I started a fire and we were joined by three other thrus whose names I'm too tired to recall. Early to bed. We want to get 12 in tomorrow and make Hot Springs by Friday.
Good night.

Typical view today

Thanks for the step-thru, trail maintainers!