Reflections from April 26

Spring is really starting to show herself and I’m so grateful. My hands haven’t hurt from the cold in many mornings! Birds and butterflies and bees keep us company on trail. Frequent showers give confidence in the water sources being plentiful without the fear of freezing rain. It’s beautiful. 1)early rainy morning shelter packing-up time 2) one of many beautiful unknown-to-me fungi 3)sunset between rain showers one evening at a shelter 4)leaving a shelter one morning, the Viking and two others behind me. Second Breakfast and 62 definitely already on the trail. 5 and 6) up on the beautiful balds we’ve been hiking over. I love them. A little taste of when we get to New England and above treeline. 7)magnolia blooming along trail. Even I can smell them. 8)abandoned trailside log structure just before getting to Laurel Falls 9) Kincora 10) mountain laurel, our constant companions, along with rhododendron, just now are starting to think about blooming 11) the shelter where I thought I was going to meet the Viking and update him on SB’s foot. Nope. 12) another beautiful unknown-to-me fungus. Also, one of my fabulous shoes. I am so grateful for these shoes! I’ll try to share more about that later. #at2025