Black Hawk Shelter

Okay, I made it to Black Hawk Shelter. I'll count up the mileage later. I am beat. Cold air but warm sun. It's 6:30p now and it's starting to get cold. Actually too cold all day to even sit and rest; visible breath so whenever I stopped I got too cold. Now I'm just tired. Ate most of a package of jerky today, some apples, and, about 0.2 miles from the shelter along the trail then at the shelter table, all my granola. I will probably eat some sausage later but I'm going to wait until I pee then crawl in my bag. No tent; sky is clear. Though everybody else at the shelter—20, 25?—are in tents or in the shelter itself. Other than distance, it wasn't strenuous hiking; moderate at worst but mostly easy.

Okay, mileage. The shelter is 7.6 miles along the AT. Add that to the 8.5 Approach Trail plus the 1.0 mile from the lodge to the start of the Approach Trail—I just had to walk through that arch!—and that puts me at about 17 miles today. I think I'll do a little less tomorrow. My feet hurt.

I'm in my bag. I've had some of my sausage. It's just after 7p and still pretty light thanks to DST. It if stays cold like this I will be glad to get fuel in Neels Gap. Who've I met so far? Amanda and Court and their dog Walker; Michelle, no dog; August and his dog 'Nutter. August dropped out of college with one semester to go and is thru-hiking. Amanda and Court are sectional. Michelle I do not know.

There are leaves on the ground and some evergreens (pines, a holly-like tree and rhododendron) but mostly it is bare. I heard some songbirds and saw crows and what I'd call a turkey vulture, spiders, that's it. So weird; it was green and spring back for me two days ago.