When we finally pushed out of the dense spruce forest and onto the Appalachian Trail, there was a sense of the unreal that we experienced as we actually walked upright again on level ground. The final push up Pinnacle Lead to the shoulder of Old Black was through a dark hobbit forest of spruce. The trees grew so closely together that we just put our arms up to shield our faces and plowed on through. The floor of this ancient forest is an unstable blend of rotted logs, shattered stone, and thick layers of fallen debris. It's important to test each step carefully, since the rotted debris often hides pits between the rocks and logs that are waiting to snare the unwary traveler.

Our route brought us out well to the east of the usual exit point for this hike, but I enjoyed the climb up Pinnacle Lead. Since our final destination for the day was waiting nearly 10 miles away, down at the Cosby campground, the swing to the east brought us out that much closer to our goal. It's funny, but after crawling for over 8 hours up the drainage of Ramsey Prong, we felt as if the hike was over once we stepped out onto the Appalachian Trail. Peter wanted to continue the climb on up to the summit of Mt. Guyot, just as Harvey Broome had described doing in his journal. Having been there a few times already, I chose to enjoy a snooze down at the Deer Gap helipad while Peter pushed on to the summit.