Advance.

My daily progress has begun to increase. With the combination of being in full trail shape, the terrain lightening up a bit, and slack pack opportunities, it really set the stage for knocking out large mileage.

Bear Garden was a hostel I had circled on the map for quite some time. They will make you a homemade cake if you complete their slack pack challenge: 26.4 miles, 6,000 feet up, and 6,000 feet down. Of course I wanted to do it, especially considering how good I was feeling coming into the hostel.

A few of us had planned to do the slack pack challenge, and friends of mine rented a cabin at the hostel. It’s a great perk hiking with a cast iron fanatic and a professional pastry chef because they decided to cook up a feast before our marathon day: steaks, potatoes, and banana cream pie.

With some good food in me and the weather being perfect, I made light work of the challenge. The climb up Chestnut Knob was a breeze, and I completed the challenge in about nine hours. Within an hour of getting back to the hostel, there was a fresh cake waiting for me.

The miles continued to evaporate from there. After about a two-day stretch covering 30 miles, my parents came down to visit me. The only thing that made sense from a logistical standpoint was to cover a 27-mile section to a point where they could pick me up and drop me back off.

The next day, I took a well-deserved day off. I had covered over 80 miles in four days and was feeling it. It was nice to spend time with my parents after 50 days on the trail. I made sure to replenish my calories, resupply, get a new pair of shoes, and enjoy some pool time at the hotel.

I was dropped back off on the trail a couple of days ago at mile marker 637. I should now be pretty close to caught up on content and, hopefully, back to posting regularly.