Zach Johnston

I wak e up, eat another breakfast of bars, and get ready for trail. Decade tells me her itinerary ends at Skyline Shelter. She's aiming for about 19 miles. Like always, I'm going to go by how I'm feeling, but this aligns with what I hope to accomplish today. Decade heads out first as she has a mail drop in Brandon she hopes to pick up first thing. About 15 minutes later, I follow.

Last night, before I went to bed, the forecast called for rain in the afternoon, so my game plan was to get up early and knock out mileage, then escape to the next shelter when it started. I woke up at 5, used the restroom, and got rolling with my morning tasks. Unfortunately, I can already hear the rain clinking off the metal roof. “Well, shit,” I think. I grab my bear bag and bring it in because it’s not completely waterproof. ...

I slowly open my eyes from the Batell Shelter. Another heavy rainstorm came in the evening, and I'm relieved to see it has stopped.

I spend most of my morning blogging, restocking food, and adjusting equipment. I’ve made a couple of gear adjustments for this leg. Of my journey. First, I’m switching out my Neo Air X Lite. I’m doing this. Largely because the trail is more narrow up here and the space for clearing room would be nice, especially on wet days. I’m also bringing my stove, although I still feel mixed on this matter. Steph drops me back where I was yesterday at about 4:30 p.m. ...

An Odd Place to Wake Up I wake up atop my picnic table bed beside the Montclair Shelter just before six A.M.

Water Crisis Emerges I wake up and see I haven't lost the trail. I eat a BoBo bar and take a few drops of water from my Be-Free Filter, which is nearly empty.

I open my eyes in the Butler Lodge. No thru-hikers came last night, which was kind of surprising. I quickly decided this might be my favorite shelter on the whole Long Trail! It is about 6:30 A.M. I had a solid 9 hours of sleep last night. This is by far the most sleep I've gotten since I hit the Long Trail.

Summiting Whiteface/Sterling Mountain I wake up, eat the last two BoBo bars I have, and head into the last push of White Face/Sterling Mountain.

Camp Corliss was one of the busier shelters I have been to in many days, with 3 tents and 3 people in the shelter. It's nice to have some human contact again, and many of them are SOBO hikers pretty fresh into their journey. This is an excellent reminder of how close the finish line is becoming.

Cold Oats and a Beautiful Sunrise I woke up from Tillerton Camp just before official sunrise. I'm about 22 miles from completion.