Another late start. We left a little after 8a. It was 7a before I started moving. I really wanted to sleep for another 2 hours. Kirby had a late start too because he wasn’t feeling good. He has a cold. It was around 10a when he packed up.
The morning was a bit miserable. It wasn’t awful, but I felt really tired which made it worse. By 11a we made it to the first shelter. Lotus and Atlas were already there. Hype came in a bit behind us. We rested, got water, and ate a small snack. Our plan was to wait until about 1p for lunch. The shelter wasn’t too impressive and I was glad we stayed where we did (near the road). Although, apparently this particular shelter comes with a house rattlesnake. You can see that there’s a hole in the dirt under the platform. Someone speculated it was a snake hole. We never saw the rattler, but people who had stayed there sometime earlier did.
Just a few miles up were some overlook sites. We got there about 1p and ate lunch. After lunch I convinced Ben to let me take a bit of a nap. The other 3 also napped (we still hadn’t seen Kirby yet for the day). Around 2:30p I started to move and just then Kirby walked by. Our “tramily” (that’s what Kirby calls us, meaning: trail family) was back together. Then we headed on.
(Photo Above: Our friend Hype enjoying the view.)
We got to a pretty intense ridge line. It was all big boulders that we had to scramble across. During times of inclement weather they have a bypass trail that the AT Conservancy suggests you take. I was glad it was nice out. The rock faces were slick enough from the earlier rain. We had some nice views though and honestly, I thought it was fun. It kept my brain engaged.
We hiked a little after we left the ridge and then took a break. We were at a spot called, “Lick Log Gap”. Apparently tradition calls for you to lick a log while you are there. I think Atlas did, no one else participated.
After that, it was just 1.5 miles to the next shelter (Jerry Cabin). We pushed through that pretty quick. There was a ton of space for tents near it. It’s probably some of the best camping around a shelter we’ve seen yet. It’s a beautiful spot. We have little yellow flowers all around our area. There’s an already established fire ring near one. Although, tonight we will not have a fire. Everyone is a bit tired and has things they need to catch up on.
Hiker hunger is starting to set in. However, I’m sure in a month I’ll laugh at the fact that I thought I was hungry now. I’m sure it’ll be much worse later on.
I have a weird rash around the back of my achilles tendon. It’s on both feet, but is particularly prominent on my left leg. I think it’s a reaction to the leuko tape that I have aggravated by scratching it. To add to it all, as I was taking off my leuko tape tonight, I found that I have a new blister on my left heel. It’s right above the blister that is still healing from week 1 of the trip. To say that it was a frustrating and disappointing find is putting it lightly. At least it is already ripped open and I won’t have to cut it. I hope it heals quickly. Even more than that, I hope it doesn’t get worse first.
We hiked a total of 12.1 miles today. Tomorrow we are shooting for 15.5 miles. We will start the day with a climb and end it with another. My favorite.
On a more positive note: today we broke 300 miles!! Only 1,890 to go!
– ansel