We woke up to freezing temps, but the rain had finally stopped. We slowly got dressed, and both decided we’d have to wear our sleep Sox since our regular hiking Sox were completely drenched!

Molly pulled up like a beacon in her truck, rolled down the window and asked if we wanted hot coffee!!! PRAISE BE! The Calvary had come! She brought a carafe of actually AMAZING hot coffee, baked us a chocolate chip pumpkin bread, brought wraps, and hummus, fresh tomatoes, peanut butter and jelly, hard boiled eggs, and more!

We burst into tears at her generosity and to see our good friend. So many hugs.

Soon after ditching all heavy gear in her truck we were off!

Hiking was easy, and the first two hours flew by with great and revived conversation, and lighter packs we just… flew.

Soon after the 2.5 hour mark however I noticed a terrible blister starting up now in the left heel so we had to stop so I could tend. My heels were a MESS! I got some moleskin on my feet, and other bandaids, and we were off again.

This section of the BRT is TERRIBLE!!! So overgrown, and wet conditions. We had a few really actually awesome vistas, but mostly I remembered the low, wet points.

My blisters flared up again, and more foot care was needed.

And again.

And again.

My feet looked absolutely heinous, and it was near unbearable to carry any weight as I was now using my hiking poles as crutches. I expended all of our first aid kids. If there would have been a road to bail out on I would have taken it, but we were stuck and the only way out was to finish it.

I looked on the map of where we were, and we had three climbs left, and one long low spot… knowing this helped, we counted off, and I hiked sans pack because our guardian angel Molly carried my pack for me!!!

The last low spot we saw several moose beds (literally the outline of moose in several spots) of tall grass was really beautiful.

FINALLY we made it to the 270 degree overlook and I just cried again. I was so glad to be done with the trail!

This trail isn’t for everyone, and while it was about 98% type 2 fun, I’ve had SO MUCH fun reliving it all in my series of Instagram posts, and now this trip report. It made it worth it for sure.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed.