Thursday, 6/18

AT Miles = 12.2 / 1111.6
Other Miles = 0.8 / 40.7
Total Miles = 13.0 / 1151.3

Not much to say about today. It rained all night, though it had
tapered off to the occasional drizzle by the time I got up a few
minutes before 6:00. I ate breakfast, packed up all my wet gear,
changed out of my dry clothes and put my wet hiking clothes back on,
and started off for Boiling Springs. The woods were wet, and the
section of trail between Tagg Run (where the shelter is located) and
the Cumberland Valley (where Boiling Springs is), contains a bit of up
and down; more so than I have become used to lately. The folks who
routed the trail through here also seem to like scrambling around on
rocks, and there was plenty of that this morning. Since wet rocks can
be quite slippery, this got old pretty fast.

I made a quick stop at the Alec Kennedy shelter, about 8 miles into
the day, to sit down in a dry spot and have a bit of lunch, then I
pushed on. A couple miles later I descended out of the hills and the
trail came out of the woods and into some farm fields in the
Cumberland Valley. There is a sign just before this warning hikers
that there is no camping for the next 17 miles, other than the
campsite on the outskirts of Boiling Springs, as the trail crosses the
Valley. This is because the trail threads its way across the valley
through farm fields. It is reputed to be an insufferably hot hike on a
hot, humid, sunny day. But I only had a couple more miles to cover
before I arrived in Boiling Springs.

What a pretty little town this is. The town is centered around Boiling
Springs Lake. The trail follows a gravel walking path along one side
of the lake, directly across from Front Street which is lined with
lovely old houses, many constructed of stone or brick. I am spending
two nights in one of these houses on Front Street, the Garmanhaus B&B.

I've showered, washed all my clothes, and spent an hour or two
watching old Adam 12 reruns streamed to my laptop from NetFlix. I
don't know why, but I just love that program! Such innocent times.

I am about to head over to the Boiling Springs Tavern for a beer or
two and some dinner. I hope it is as good as everyone tells me it is.
—
~~~~~
Monkeywrench
Allen F. Freeman
allen@allenf.com
www.allenf.com
allenf.blogspot.com