Her trail name is Prom Queen because she hikes in the colorful dress you see here. She's hiked the AT and the Ice Age Trail, and a lot in New England because she lived in the White Mountains. She had heard of me! (Because of my NCT hike- it's apparently newsworthy when you do something after you are old.) We chatted a bit. She's basically sold all her possessions and just hikes now. But she says she's recovering from a knee injury and doing shorter hikes for a while. We know a few of the same hiker people. She's doing loops to try to get all the Sheltowee in Tennessee on this trip.
The other really outstanding thing is that we did not have to wade the Big South Fork river. Chris and Jen were canoeing, and they ferried us across. We got to start hiking with dry feet!
For some reason, this just struck me as funny. We were going up a hill to meet yet another rock face. The left part is white and the right part is dark, but it's all rock. I wondered how we were getting up it since the elevation profile of the trail made it clear that we were going to the top.
But the trail turned to the right and went along the base of the wall higher and higher.
But it didn't seem like the trail was rising fast enough. It wasn't- there was a ladder/stairs for the last part!
We thought of this yesterday, but we have a new name for switchbacks that have short runs. I've always called them zippers, but they are now going to be "officially" twitchbacks.
Tomorrow is the last day, but it looks tough.
Miles walked in 2026: 633.9
Sheltowee Trace miles: 305.2
Sheltowee Trace, Tennessee, Station Camp Ford to Bandy Creek Campground- 9.2 miles
 | See Sheltowee Trace- O&W Railroad |
Well it's not every day you meet a prom queen out on the trail. She has an interesting story.
ReplyDeleteNice that you got a ride across that river.