I froze last night. I’m cold almost every night, it has something to do with the sheen of sweat on you. But I also had to keep my heels out in the air so they would dry out, which made me even colder. When 6:45a rolled around, I truly did not want to wake up.
We were out of camp just before 8a. We started with a decent uphill climb, then went down quite a ways. There were a lot of rocks we had to navigate around today. Sections of the trail had a spring running right across it. Part of the climb down had these big boulders that were just covered in moss. It was like a fantastical land (yep, I’m a dork). It was really beautiful this morning. Plus I loved rock hopping. It makes a game out of where you are placing your feet… kind of like a puzzle. I can enjoy it too because our boots have Gore-Tex on them, so our feet should stay dry.
We had another misty morning, which of course means photos! We passed an old tree stump that was hollowed out and unraveling much like the way a Saguaro cactus does and I thought about our time in AZ with mom and dad Jonkman.
The first several miles went quick. We arrived at the gap where we were supposed to start heading back up and there was trail magic! Perfect! It was right at lunch time. It was an older couple (Granny and Old Goat) whose daughter had hiked the trail in 2014. Since then, they have started handing out trail magic. They said they’ll follow up north too. So I’m hoping we get to see them again. They were the best trail magic we’ve seen so far. Super generous people, incredibly kind, delicious food… I didn’t want to leave. They brought their grandson (El Camino – I love how they all have their own trail names too!). El Camino was on Spring Break for the week. His aunt who had hiked, would meet up with him in a few days and they were going to go out and do a section of the trail. El Camino seemed really interested in everyone who came and easily joined in on conversations. It was a great family. The only price? A hug for Granny – one I happily paid. Someday Ben and I will be able to pay forward that generosity.
Speaking of generosity… While we were eating and sitting, who else did we see? Princess! I love that lady so much! I’ll be sad when we stop seeing her because she’s outhiked us. She’s incredibly fit. For example, it was 12p and she had already hiked 15 miles for the day. Well, she heard I was sticking with “Blisters” and said, “Don’t keep that.” Then she renamed me to “Ansel”. A name I will diligently try to honor and live up to while I have it.
We begrudgingly left lunch and began our second major ascent for the day. On our way up, we finally got David to agree to a name. He will henceforth be referred to as “Sputnik”. Ben came up with that because he has to shift his pack often. When he does, he throws his poles back behind him and Ben said he looks like the Sputnik satellite. Then Sputnik named Ben, “Warthog”.
The rest of the day was easy. It was an easy climb followed by an easy descent. At the top was a shelter with a privy that we “took advantage of the opportunity.” Not nearly as bad as I expected. Afterwards, we walked through a lot of burned forest. In fact, we are camping in burned forest. Apparently it’s from last years fires in TN.
We arrived at the Beech Creek camp by 4p. Ben set up the tent and I blew up our air mattresses. Then dinner.
Dinner experiment #3 today: Knorr pasta side (fettuccine), with a packet of Knorr dehydrated spring veggie mix, and a 7oz packet of Tyson chunk chicken. We also put in a butter packet we took from the hotel. It turned out really good. My favorite experiment yet I think. Except, it was A LOT of food. I’m not at all worried about counting calories. Not when you hike for 10 hours a day.
As I was cooking, a little bird sat nearby hoping for scraps. I didn’t have any seeds or anything, so I couldn’t oblige. Now as I am typing, I’m listening to the birds call back and forth. Hearing the birds is one of my favorite things about the forest.
We are camped under the protection of Rhododendron trees. It’s supposed to storm tonight so we hope they will cut some of the wind and rain. Their leaves are out and their flowers are starting to bud. I imagine we have a month or so yet before we start to see Rhododendron blooms. I am eagerly looking forward to smelling their flowers as we hike.
We are seeing a lot of new regular faces. Staying in town totally threw off our friend rhythm and I kind of miss the old crew. At the very least, I’m interested in knowing what they are up to and how they are doing. I’m hoping that as they take neros and zeros we’ll be able to catch back up to them. We have one more full day, then a nero (low mileage) as we head into town for showers, laundry, and then come back out. 12 miles tomorrow, the same as today. Then only 3. I’m excited!
-ansel