The weather forecast looked Okay for the day, so even though it was raining when I got up, I shuttled up the trail to Dennis Cove Rd (Black Bear Resort) for a slack pack back to Boots Off with Mighty Blue.

The weather was supposed to move east and clear up as the cold front moved through. Liars!! It did get colder but it rained all day…

The hike was basically divided into 3 equal parts. Three miles along the Laurel River, down into the gorge with Laurel Falls, a 3 mile climb into the Pond Mtn Wilderness and then a 3 mile decent to Boots Off Hostel.

The climb was long and slow but I managed just fine. Lots of my new friends passed by during the ascent.

The descent to Boots Off was fast; the trail was well groomed with many switchbacks. It was a great day in spite of all the rain.

AT Thru-Hike Stats
Section Day #3 (5/7/26)
Start - Black Bear Hostel (420.3)
End - Boots Off Hostel (429.0)
Today's mileage: 8.7
Total section miles: 33.4
Section Avg:  11.1
Total miles on AT: 1346.8

If the lessons of history teach us anything it is that nobody learns the lessons that history teaches us.