After a rest day yesterday we awoke ready to get hiking again. Columbus and I bought pancake mix and syrup for breakfast yesterday and made the whole box this morning. After eating our fill I packed a nice stack of pancakes to bring along. Then I fed the hens our leftovers from The Homeplace. They were overjoyed. The rooster came over too but he was no match for them at this job.
We shuttled from the hostel back to the trailhead. The first six miles of hiking were a good warm up, with relatively flat and nice trail. Then we reached the base of Cove Mountain which was a slow climb and rock scramble to the top. A large stone monolith called “Dragon’s Tooth” is at the top of this mountain, along a short side trail. It was a very windy day with strong gusts, particularly at the top of the mountain.
The next climb was up to Brush Mountain, which is as scenic as it sounds. On the positive side, the trail was smooth and wide, like an old road. And at the top there is a monument to Audie Murphy, the most decorated World War II veteran. His monument was surrounded by a shrine of rocks and objects and was fascinating to see. It had the feeling of a sacred place.
After coming down from the mountain we crossed myriad streams and ascended back up to Niday Shelter where we set up for the night.
We were the only ones at the shelter for a little while. Then one NOBO called “Legs” arrived. Others from his group arrived later, but we had already retired for the night and didn’t get a chance to talk.