Kevin's AT Thru Hike

Day 135, Friday, 7/29 – I woke up this morning and went to the living room. I found Birthday watching GoodFellas, so I posted up in a sofa chair and caught the end of the movie. We then put in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Broadway cooked up scrambled eggs, hash browns, and breakfast sausage. Once again I ate a ridiculous amount of food. We all packed up and cleaned as we watched the movie. We then checked out of the Airbnb at 11:00am.

I found it hard to leave the Airbnb this morning. I’m starting to really appreciate modern amenities again. I’m beginning to look forward to living indoors on a regular basis.

Broadway drove us from the Airbnb to the outfitter so we could get some odds and ends, and then drove us back to trail. We found a nice spot in the shade, and hung out with Broadway before hiking out. Stretch was there too! It was sad that Broadway wasn’t hiking out with us. It has to be hard for any hiker whose trip has been cut short from an injury.

The hiking today was absolutely gorgeous. It’s in the running for most beautiful section of trail on the AT. We climbed Little Haystack Mountain, Mount Lincoln, and Mount Lafayette, which makes up Franconia Ridge.

It’s a very popular section of trail, so we expected it to be crowded. We were pleasantly surprised to essentially have it to ourselves. We were up there later in the evening, so a lot of the day hikers were likely already off the ridge. It’s always nice to have the nature to yourself. We took our time hiking the ridge. It’s certainly not a place to rush through.

We hiked off the ridge and out of the alpine zone so we could find a place to camp. Genie, Splitzy, Aqua, and I found a stealth spot to camp between Lafayette and Garfield at mile 1828. Birthday hiked on alone to catch a sunset. Today was a great day all around.