3/22 Day 3

What a cold rainy day ...

Still had a blast though! 

Started the day with a banana, given to me by one of the car campers which was perfect, haven't had fruit in a while. Woke up to some light rainfall which was unfortunate because we didn't see that in the forecast.

We rose quicker than yesterday as me and Gules hit the trail around 9:30am. We crushed the first 3.5 miles to Woody Gap in an hour and a half. We were then blessed by some trail magic that consisted of waffles, syrup, eggs, sausage and coffee! Big thanks to Monarch for the much needed boost

There was a bear cannister restriction so Jules and I decided to haul ourselves up Blood Mountain all the way past Neels Gap, aiming for our first 15+ mile day. We did not anticipate the rain to last all through the afternoon. 

We continued on and the rain was off and on, we ended up hiking these miles with Jillian, a Park Ranger from Alaska. 

Jules and I took a quick break at a shelter before attempting to summit Blood Mountain. It was absolutely downpouring but everything was alreadying soaking wet, so at that point it didn't matter. We were able to get to the top in less than an hour and the rain stopped temporarily for us to relax and take some pictures. 

The way down was really rocky and slippery so it definitely slowed down our speed. Still raining we were real determined to finish our miles up for the day. 

We did make it to Neels Gap but it was pouring at that point so made a quick stop at the porta potties and kept on rolling. I will take pictures of the resupply tomorrow. 

We were finally able to stop hiking around 6:30pm and finally get ready to settle in. We found a great little camping spot with a great view for dinner.

Total Mileage today: 16 

Expected mileage tomorrow: less than 6 😂

Despite the rain, still a fun day on the trails. 

See ya tomorrow lovelies ;)