Slack packin' with Big Papa

After our wonderful rest at the Bellfry we got back to hiking. We left around 7:30 and got on the trail at 8:30 after breakfast. It is getting hot these days so the earlier you start, the better, and with the big climb we had at the start we were happy for the cool weather at the start.

Beautiful mountain laurel in bloom

Having lighter packs gave us the idea to hike bigger days. Puddin wanted to hike 25 on the first day, then 30 on the next. That is a ton of miles in two days, but we wanted to be able to take advantage of the service my dad was providing us with.

We quickly mad it up the climb on the first day, but the miles were taking longer than we thought. We average between 2.5 to 3 mph with full packs,  but apparently we hike the same speed with lighter packs. The day went by slowly, but had good views and enjoyed the windy weather keeping us cool. The hike ended with a 3,000 foot hike down over 5 miles that took its toll on our knees. We were glad to have barely anything in our packs.

Our views from the top

Mountain streams

A panoramic of the valley below

The second day we felt good after the big miles, but 30 miles was still intimidating. We were southbound for the day (SOBO) and were excited to pass some of the people we had been hiking with who were ahead of us. My dad drove us north to Waynesboro, Va so we could start just before the entrance to Shenandoah National Park. 

The day was still cool and we hiked fast. The terrain was more flat than what we had been hiking in the past and we enjoyed it. We crossed over a bunch of rivers and hiked a good amount next to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Pretty little waterfall

We got some trail magic from Sandman's mom and we loved the Honey Buns. We saw some great views and there were a ton of people on the trail with it being Memorial Day Weekend. We had another big down at the end of the day but we were surprised to run into our buddy Nova who we hadn't seen in about two weeks. We took a break to chat with her and tell her our plans for the next couple weeks. After that it was only the final 2 miles to the parking lot where my dad was waiting to take us to a comfy hotel. After the 30 miles we were hurting and stinking and excited to get to lay down on the bed. 

Happy to have completed our first 30 mile day. 

So from here we are going to drive from Waynesboro, Va to Harpers Ferry, Wv. We will hike southbound for about 160 miles over the next 12 days. We are doing it this way so we can meet back up with Puddins mom and aunt and hike part of Shenandoah with them. If you are following us through the spot device it will look funny for a minute while we flip flop, but hopefully it won't get too crazy. 

- Paddy Cakes