06 April Devil's Racecourse

Blue sky's again today and hot,  86.  But it started overnight with surprise thunderstorms.  It was very nice to be in a shelter and listen to the rain on the tin roof.  Some clothes got wet but no big deal.

Spring is arriving on the Maryland mountaintops.  So far, the trees have been mostly bare and only an occasional wild flower to be seen.  Today the buds on the trees were really popping out (you could almost here them).  It was hot after the clouds burned off but there were frequent cool breezes.  How much is a cool breeze worth?  A lot to me today.  Too bad they are not available in July.

Snakes - another sign of spring.  We saw black snakes (with tiny yellow speckles) in the trail both yesterday and today.  The one yesterday was 6-7 feet and fat!  It was the biggest black snake I have ever seen.
We met Nature Boy on the trail today.  He is on his third thru-hike of the AT.  He left very early to be this far, especially with the weather we had.  He spoke of 6 feet of snow in places and it was difficult/impossible to find the white blazes that mark the trail.  He had to skip over part of the Smokies. 

Why so early?  Why three times?  Every year there is a small group that leave Georgia after the New Year (or as soon as possible) in an unofficial race to see who can finish first (not fastest, first).  I think. Nature Boy is currently in the front of this group.  He said others had also skipped sections and all will has to go back finish them later.   With different people skipping different sections, I predict controversy at the end.  He quickly left us behind. 

The shelter is terrible (Wendy gives it 1 star) but there is a nice stream next to it and it is easy to get water.  We also took a wonderful bath.

Tomorrow is a big day.  We will hike 10 miles and around lunch time we will enter the state of Pennsylvania.  Maryland will be done!

Gun shots in the distance.  Time to go to bed.