I'm writing this entry the morning after, as opposed to last night. The reasons for this will be obvious by the end of the post.
I woke up today, our 2 month anniversary of being out on the trail, with stuffy sinuses and a renewed energy. The sun was shining and I ate a quick, large, breakfast with FedEx and Mr. Fantastic before setting forth. It was 17.1 miles to the road that would take us into town, so starting too late would make for a stressful hike.
The trail began by throwing a lot of large rocks in my path, slowing my pace considerably. Thankfully that was only at the outset, and soon I was making great time. 9 miles brought me to the next shelter and my lunch break. It was sunny enough to set my shoes and socks out to dry, and I curled up in the shade of the shelter, eating and reading the logbook. Mr. Fantastic caught up with me there and enjoyed some food as well, while we both stretched and massaged our beat up feet.
After a refreshing break I started hiking again, wanting to get those 8.1 miles covered before it got too late to hitch and resupply. The sun beat down on me today, with not a cloud in the sky and less tree cover than I'm used to. It made for a few sweaty climbs, but eventually I made it to the road where I met Magic Lungs. He had attempted a thru-hike last year, but made it just shy of where we are now. So this year, now that he's graduated college, he plans to finish his sojourn. A nice story to hear for those of us desperately fighting failure out here.
Mr. Fantastic caught up shortly, and we started the hitching process. It was 6:30pm already, but we had to try to get the 8 miles into town, resupply, and then figure out where we could hole up for the night. We were quickly picked up by a couple of section hikers who informed us that there was no hostel, motel, or hotel, and that the only resupply was at a gas station. A definite monkey wrench in our plans.
The gas station actually had a pretty nice market though, with fresh produce and everything. After a prolonged time there, choosing food, eating food, resting feet, it was time to work our way back to the trail. This time when we threw our thumbs up, a couple of guys behind us gassing up said they knew a guy who could give us a lift. They called their friend over, and told us how they always give rides to hikers in the area and love to do it. So back into the bed of another pick-up we went, wind in our hair as the miles flew by.
When we were back to the trailhead it was 9pm, and we had decided to hike 3.9 more miles to the next shelter. This meant our first experience hiking with headlamps, and our first 20+ mile day! It was a tough last stretch, especially since I hadn't had dinner yet. We climbed through the darkness, chatting and clacking out trekking poles to warn off any lumbering animals. We passed Magic Lungs, who had set up camp about 1.5 miles from the shelter, but pressed on, needing a water source. For a night hike it was a brutal climb, one of our steepest, and I summited more drenched in sweat than I've ever been. Once at the top the breeze and night air quickly cooled us off, and we ridge lined under the starry sky, desperate to not miss the shelter in the swampy darkness.
We did find the shelter, and were joyous to see that it was empty. We didn't want to set up tents in the dark when this tired, and we didn't want to have to tiptoe around sleeping hikers. It also helped that it's a gorgeous shelter with high ceilings and a roof over the picnic table platform. Quite posh indeed.
It was 11pm by this time, and we both ate ravenously. Adding these last miles to our day made planning the next 2 days much easier. We only have 16 miles for the next day, and then 12 into town after that. Once there we can enact our failed plan for this past town, and find a place to stay, shower, and launder. Mistakes are a dime a dozen out here, but it's all about turning them to your favor.
