A Grand Loop - Linville Gorge ... Day 3 4K

Third backpacking trip of 2024 ... April 13 - 19, 2024
Included - Mom, Sally, and myself
Day 3 - April 15, 2024
On this day, I awoke tired seeing the early morning colors through my tarp - which I'd had to deploy to the winds whipping through the area during the night. It was so windy .. Sally was restless in her tent - so I brought her in my hammock. You could hear the trees moving around with the wind - which also causes some anxiety and thoughts of "did I double check for widow makers!?. On top of that, the general stress of deciding whether or not to drag my mom up the Ledge trail especially after the tough start on the the connector trail the previous day. I wanted to do the Ledge trail .. but I also wanted to be able to complete the entire loop with my mom and my sanity. So, I think both of us were tired. As morning broke, we made our way to a nice overlook just below our campsite. After enjoying the view, we pack up camp - thankfully we were able to get mostly packed before the bugs once again resumed harassing us.
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Things to note ... this was probably our easiest day in terms of mileage - but only because we skipped Ledge trail. I didn't take skipping Ledge lightly ... but I'd read and watched where people couldn't find the trail or "eventually" found it. Honestly, mentally I just couldn't bear doing that knowing we still had the NE quad the next day. Looking back, could we have done it - probably would I change my decision looking back - no. I wanted this to be a safe and fun trip ... and in my mind we were doing a grand loop not "the" grand loop. We're already talking about doing the Ledge trail in the fall. Regardless of all that, the climb up Sitting Bear is not to be taken lightly so tread carefully, Jonas Ridge is a really nice trail and the vies up at Hawksbill are awesome (it's probably why it's one of the most visited points in the Gorge). Overall, a great third day on the trail!