chester in the stride
Joined: 18 Jan 2012 Posts: 56 Location: Slade, Kentucky
|
Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 7:45 pm Post subject: Day 3 Chestnut Ridge to Peter’s Mountain Road-16.6 miles |
|
|
Day Three – Chestnut Ridge to Peter’s Mountain Road (16.6 miles with plenty of creek crossings)
We woke up to more snow and chilly weather so we quickly ate some energy bars and packed up. With frozen toes and fingers, we hit the trail to get warmed up. My goal was to get to Divide Road and stop and have a warm breakfast. I hiked on ahead at my own speed and Michele hiked at her comfortable speed. This was my favorite thing about hiking in the snow. The person behind would simply follow the tracks of the person ahead.
I reached Divide Road first and made my breakfast. When Michele arrived, she went on ahead and I caught up with her by the time she reached the point where the John Muir Trail met up with the original Sheltowee Trail.
This part of the trail I had been on last March, so I pretty much knew where I was going. Last year, I took the wrong trail to Gobbler’s Arch when I was accidently following plain white diamonds instead of white diamonds with turtles on them. This year I knew better and after a few minutes we were able to figure it out and headed down Mark Branch Creek with its multiple crossings for the next two miles. None of the creek crossings were fords so our feet remained somewhat dry for the day. We were rewarded with actual restrooms at the top of Peter’s Mountain. After taking advantage of the toilets and newfound phone service, we headed forward for another hour and camped in an open field that appeared to be a hunting camp. We hung our food bags on a deer stand. Thinking back this was probably not a good idea since bears do climb. |
|