The Last Day, Big Bald Shelter, Nov 13

Sure enough, my last day started off in a rainstorm on top of Big Bald. I shared the shelter with Dr. Pepper and 4 other thru-hikers. The difference between thru-hikers and weekenders is amazing. When hiking is your business, it cuts out a lot of the unecessary crap at the shelters: gear stowed, camp clean (no food), quiet early. And even though there's a lot of joking around, these guys are serious hikers. At 17 miles a day, I'm just a lightweight. One hiker, "G-Man" works as a geologist at the South Pole (for real, Antarctica) and has hiked the AT, PCT, CDT and other shorter trails multiple times. I want his job :)