(Helvey's Mill Shelter (mile 594) - Lickskillet Hollow (mile 605))

I woke up this morning at about 6:45am. It had been raining on and off last night, but at this point the rain seemed to have let up. I packed all my wet gear, ate breakfast, and realized I needed to collect water for a 7 mile carry. Unfortunately, the shelter’s water source was located down a long side trail at the bottom of a deep ravine. I had no choice but to make the pilgrimage to fill my bottles at the bottom of the ravine. The water trail felt like a never-ending series of switchbacks, and by the time I finally reached the creek, I felt myself growing anxious about how far I needed to hike this morning.

I finally started hiking at about 8am, giving me approximately 4 hours to hike almost 11 miles to Lickskillet Hostel where I was planning to meet AC. So, I needed to set a pace of about ~3 miles/hour, which is fast, but doable. I knew I would need some good music to motivate me, so I put my earbuds in and queued up the hypest playlist possible. The hard-hitting, bombastic sounds of Peewee Longway’s “The Blue M&M 3” and Benny the Butcher’s “Butcher on Steroids” helped me maintain warp speed as I tread my way along the rolling ridge.

After 6 miles, I reached the 600 mile mark! I stopped briefly to release some celebratory yawps and take pictures, but I was soon moving again.

The next 5 miles were much the same, a steady rollercoaster of small ups and downs along the ridge. I felt really good as I hiked. I felt strong. I felt happy to be flying down the trail at top speed, knowing that AC and I would be together soon.

I made it to Price Ridge Road, which runs through Lickskillet Hollow, at 11:35am. Lickskillet Hostel was a half mile road walk to the south. As I began the road walk a family of large deer darted across the road and up the sloped embankment. From there, they eyed me cautiously. These were the first deer I had spotted since starting the AT. They clearly appeared to be white-tailed deer, but they also seemed larger than the deer in Georgia. Maybe they were a different subspecies? Or maybe this was a case of Bergmann’s rule in action?

As I was completing the road walk, I glanced down into a roadside ditch and noticed what appeared to be an unopened bottle of beer. Closer inspection revealed that it was indeed a wholly intact, sealed Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA. The ditch had kept it nice and cool, so I scooped it up, threw it in my packed, and internally debated whether I should drink it as I continued my road walk. I made it to Lickskillet Hostel at about 11:45am, and found the building completely deserted. It was a really cool open concept, set up in an old church. There were several bunks arranged along one wall, as well as a kitchen area, three hammocks, a pool table, and a big movie watching station. Paint Splash had painted a number of murals in the entranceway and a two part sunset scene along the wall of beds.

Lickskillet Hostel is housed in an old country church building

Yesterday, I had hoped to do my laundry at Lickskillet, but at this point I realized that I didn’t have time (or quarters). Instead, I opted to wait for AC on an old church pew in front of hostel. I finally decided to drink the ditch beer, and cracked it open with my trekking pole. Now, I’ve done some questionable things on trail. Especially when it comes to finding and eating food on the ground. But this felt particularly cretinous. Don’t get me wrong… I had no regrets. It was cool and refreshing. I felt nice, sitting there after a big morning, sipping my ditch beer😁 Cheers to 600 miles!!!🍻🍾🎉