May 7, 2016 - Cumberland Valley

Hiked 13.4 miles today

Today the trail crossed the Cumberland Valley. The ridge that the Appalachian Trail follows from Georgia peters out here. So the trail crosses the valley and reaches a new Ridge to begin it's northward Journey again. Slack packing made the hike today easier than it would have been in the mountains so I took on a longer stretch of the trail.

This is how my umbrella attaches to my back shoulder strap. It was sunny but very Breezy all day. I tried to use my umbrella to keep the sun off but the wind kept turning it inside out.

I've been thinking about buying a hat for the last couple of days so I was amused when I found this hat along the trail. Some would refer to this is Trail Magic. But the Hat was made of cotton very and was  soaking wet. So I left it for the next hiker. BTW, I have a hat at home but couldn't find it before leaving. Since I saw that the forecast called for rain for the whole week I knew I wouldn't need it. Of course the one sunny day I was hiking through fields. I put up the umbrella but the wind kept blowing it inside out so I ended up putting it away.

Fern fiddle-heads

The first half of today's hike included a rock maze

At one point during the day I met a through hiker just as I was listening to the soundtrack to Star Wars. I was amused that I introduced myself as SciFi while I was playing that soundtrack.

Spring foliage

The pastures begin

Nearing the town of Boiling Springs I was befriended by a group of day hikers. One of them walked with me into town and gave me a short tour of the springs. His group was having lunch at the 101 restaurant and he invited me to join them But I had my heart set on Italian. When we parted company we exchanged email addresses so that we might hike together when I return home.

Iron forge

Bridge over trout stream

Lake created by boiling springs

The ATC regional office

Pizza shop

Pizza

The boiling spring

The boiling spring