It was a very cold night, with temperatures below freezing based on the water droplets on my tent fly frosting over when I laid it out to dry! The quilt did great, finalizing my decision to purchase it from Jim. Given it was the last day, my breakdown from camp was a speedy 75 minutes (including coffee and pit stop!), which is really good for me. On the trail by 8:00am.
The first 1.5 miles or so is a gentle incline along a run. This was a really nice section, mostly a “trail” trail, with a nice experience along the run, nice leaves and neat slopes along the sides.
At the end of this section, it is a pretty steep incline up to FR2. New Zealand-like steep! Not far after crossing FR2, the trail you are on appears to continue straight with a narrower offshoot going to the left. I continued straight along the ridge, even after questioning where the blazes were, hoping to catch an exceptional view (why else would there be such an obvious trail?). After a quarter mile, I gave up and backtracked to take the proper part of the trail. So, when doing this section, take the left!
After crossing FR16, another typical incline. Also, the Buckeye Trail, North Country Scenic Trail and America Discovery Trail join for the rest of the way. Soon, you come to a nice vista just before you get to the Camp 7 trail, assisted by a recent cut of the forest below. A good spot for the first break of the day and remove some layers.
The trail continues on the ridge overlooking the cut providing the most continuous section of views (albeit through the trees) of the entire trail. Once you descend, you come across the roads for the cut and the staging area that was used near FR16. Once back on the trail off the “road” trail, the rest of the trail before civilization is the nicest “trail” trail walk of the entire loop, traversing along and down the ridge. Additionally, the leaves were fantastic at this elevation after a couple cold nights. A really nice way to end.
About a half mile from the end you can start to hear cars and activity as the trail is above the road leading to the lodge. You end up at the parking lot for Turkey Creek Lake, which you cross and get some nice views on the way to the Backpacker Parking Lot (which now had three cars, including mine), finishing at Noon. A really nice day to end the trip! Strava said 10.7 miles and 1927’ elevation gain, which seems to be more than I felt.
Hiking Journeys 
Pingback: Shawnee Day 2: Camp 2 to Camp 6 – Hiking Journeys