#121 Mountain Lake Road to Laural Creek Shelter - Day 55: ATMM 664.3 to ATMM 675.2
The winds of change have been blowing once more
4/25/2022
We go down to breakfast before walking around the grounds of Mountain Lake Lodge to see more spots where scenes of Dirty Dancing were filmed. We make our way into the DD gift shop where my wife picks up a few gifts for others and an “I carried a watermelon” T-shirt for herself. It’s time to drive up the mountain to the trailhead.
I came to the trail a month early hoping to avoid the heat. Bare trees greet me, a good sign that the heat is still a ways off.
I have been chomping at the bit to get back here ever since leaving last year. Last year’s trip ended in an unsettling manner on a few fronts. Though things have been patched up with my tramily (trail family), I felt like I had to patch things up with the trail. The hike from here to Four Pines Hostel is the piece that will patch the hole.
After we park the car by the trailhead, my wife and I hike together to Wind Rock to look out over the mountains. We hike back to the car, where I gear up for my planned 365 mile walk to the Maryland border.
We say our good-byes. She stands beside her car until I am nearly out of her sight through the naked trees. I turn to watch her get into her car, and begin hiking again once she has left my view.