Lance Creek Camp to Three Forks Camp (20 miles)

Ok. So the final plan wasn't so final. We did another 20 miles today.  I didn't think we had another in us, but the force was there.  The day started out super cold and not well on my part as I had to put a wet pair of socks on. Trust me, avoid that move. If I could still feel my feet, I would have known earlier in the day that they were stressed. When the socks came off finally it wasn't a pretty picture. Shouldn't be a problem tomorrow because it was dry and windy today so my backup pair had plenty of drying time without a pack cover.

Big moments of the second to the last day:
• Spotted Stone Mt
• Spotted the Atlanta skyline
• Went under 20 miles
• Under 10 miles
• Under 5 miles to go

The Three Forks is right on a great stream with really clear water. Quite simply a joy after literally months of dealing with drought. Also, the camping area is huge, but, as usual, we are the only ones here. We stare at theses gigantic spaces and just imagine all of the bight eyed and bushy tailed wanna-be thru hikers crowding in here during the spring rush northbound. We also can see how this trail is so much more traveled than the trails in Maine. Three quarters of those hikers don't make it and many don't even make it through the 60+ miles we walked in the past 3 days.

So, here we are. Declaring everything to be the last time we do this or that. Having a stream side lunch, counting down under 10 miles for that day (I did that everyday-being in single digits for the day is comforting), setting up the tent, digging a cat hole (I hope) are good examples.

Four point three miles to go. Unbelievable!  By the time I find cell enough to post this, we will probably already have summited Springer and started our way down the 8 mile approach trail to Amacalola Falls State Park. It is there where we'll get our final stamps for our AT Passports and also find out what our final SOBO hiker number will be for posterity sake.  We were supposed to get a number when we left Katahdin in June, but the rangers were busy with unplanned police stuff. Our numbers at Harper’s Ferry (the sentimental half way point) were 142 (Hummingbird) and I was 143. I'm guessing that more have dropped out and our numbers will go down. We also were really fast in the second half but did take 8 days off for a wedding.

Eating our food bags down to zippo is also fun. Makes for a super light pack and eating with abandon knowing we are NOTgoing out into the wilderness for another week or so.. is final.

In less than 48 hours we'll be home. In 72, I'll be watching a football game with a beer-wait-I did that last weekend too.