In spite of yesterday's hard rain, today's theme was scarce water. I started the day early with 2 liters of water. The high humidity helped keep my water consumption down on the 1100-foot climb up the mountain. The trail approximated yesterday's with some decent trail and some rock-covered sections. At mile 11.6, I came to a paved road with a restaurant a 100 yards away. The restaurant wasn't open for the day so I ate lunch in the shade and filled up with water. I continued hiking with the intent of getting water at the next shelter then camping near mile 20. The low point of the afternoon was traversing the Knife Edge, with steeply sloping rock slabs. It was awful. At Bake Oven Road, Cheesesteak handed me a cold soda as trail magic. When I got to the next shelter, the guy there told he couldn't find water. I continued on, thinking that I'd probably hike to mile 24. I hiked on. Near mile 20, the thick forest changed to a blueberry patch. I ended up hiking with a guy and his wife out for a 25-mile day hike. At length, I arrived at the Outerback shelter and dropped my pack. Sweet relief. I got water and cooked dinner. I ate my dinner and that of another hiker (see photo). Today's miles - 24.2. Total miles - 1256.2.
