July 6: Pass Mountain Hut   Miles Today : 18.8 Total Miles : 110.5

Mojo, LessyBug and I woke up early, around 5:30 this morning, so we could break down the tents before we were spotted by "the man" in our illegal campsite. Apparently, LessyBug did not sleep to well since she was worried that someone was going to find us and yell at us or something. Every noise kept her awake, and she was a bit out of sorts this morning. We packed our stuff and headed up to the main part of the lodge to enjoy the view and the complementary coffee before breakfast was served at 7:30.

Here in the common room, we met up with Hooch, Kronk, Bag 'o Bones and White Pack. We were seven hikers with one goal: The Trifecta. Given the logistics of the park, it is possible to eat a full breakfast, a full lunch and a full dinner at three different restaurants in one day. The miles, however, are not the problem, as only 17 miles separate the three different eating establishments. Rather, timing is the issue at hand that must be dealt with. Breakfast does not start until 7:30, lunch is not available until noon and dinner is over by 5:30, possibly sooner. Add on to this the fact that it takes at least an hour to get in, order, eat and pay, and you have quite the challenge.

We started breakfast right when Big Meadows opened at 7:30 and I ordered a waffle and biscuits and gravy. Just the energy I need to make it 8 miles to lunch. Full to the brim, I headed out of Big Meadows at 8:30 and started north on the trail. The weather today was just amazing all day, the sky was crystal clear, the temperature remained under 80º and the views were sharp. It was an eight-mile walk to Skyland Lodge and lunch, and to my surprise it was an excellent walk. The trail followed the west side of the ridge for the most part, and several times the woods opened up to provide excellent views.

It wasn't long before I walked into Skyland and sat down on their outside deck. Kronk and Hooch were there and we waited for everyone else to arrive, as there was still a good amount of time until lunch would be ready. We all took the opportunity to enjoy the sun and the view, as well as to hang out any wet gear on the railing. It was truly a good showing of hiker trash in an otherwise civilized environment. For lunch I enjoyed a delicious pulled-pork sandwich with fries. Man, this hiking thing is really hard sometimes.

Well, at 1:15, we all bolted from Skyland still having nine more miles to cover before 5:00 this afternoon. Normally, this is plenty of time to cover this distance, however the first climb after Skyland was Stony Man Mountain, which had an even better view than Bearfence Mountain. There was absolutely no haze today, a real rarity for this part of the country in the summer, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The sweeping view west from this point was impressive, and I hung out of the ledge for quite some time.

When I finally did get moving again, I found that most of the trail was along west side of the ridge with numerous, wide open views. I was amazed, this was the best hiking so far in the SNP, and it was on one of the best weather days I have had in the south. We all regrouped at a picnic area about five miles from Panorama just before the final push to dinner and the completion of the Trifecta. We were on time, the trail looked good, and we were focused. I jumped out into the lead and pushed on, a hiker on a mission.

That was until I got distracted at Mary's Rock. Less than two miles from Panorama I walked by a large rock jumble, large enough to catch my eye and to wonder if there was a view up there somewhere. Sure enough, just five minutes later a sign told me that Mary's Rock overlook was only 0.1 miles away. Surely, I had enough time for a side trip, especially given the great weather today, I couldn't pass it up. And I was glad that I didn't, as the view from the top was easily the best view so far today, the best in the park. There was even some rock scrambling to be done to get to the very top where the full view was. I was awe struck, and I laid down on top and just admired where I was. I lounged around for a while, sure that one member of the group would make the trip, someone would be curious and head up to this place, but none of them came. I had a local snap my photo on the very top, spent a few more minutes taking it all in and then headed back down to the AT.

I still had 1.7 miles to go to Panorama, and I still had time to make it there for dinner, but I had really put myself in a tough situation now. Not that I minded since I am out here for the views and not for the fine dining, but I figured that there is really no reason that I can't do both. So down the trail I ran, bouncing from rock to rock as I kept my mind on full alert so that I wouldn't fall. My feet were on fire, and my legs were pretty beat up from the hard descent, but I arrived to Panorama with time to spare. I ordered a chicken sandwich and completed the Trifecta; Success!

From there it was an easy 1.2 miles to the shelter area here. I am tenting outside tonight, the sky is once again clear, Hooch is playing his pack guitar and we have a respectable fire going. Time for me to stop writing and to start enjoying the moment.

-Chomp

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