Day 39

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5/6/13 - By Vic (Pundit)

Since I last have wrote, I have taken a bit of alone time on the trail and have really gotten some miles under my boots. Here's what I got...


Thoughts while Walking Alone:
- When someone says "Go for a walk, and clear your head." I found this to be the exact opposite. To be honest I don't even think it's possible to think of nothing. So in the absence of thinking about the things that stress you out ( which these days it's the terrain, weather and food supply) I have had some time to reflect on more creative aspects of my life and other random ideas. Z

- "I have everything, because I own nothing." Granted I do own some things; a backpack, some boxes of clothing, a couple bikes, a computer and a round bed. However when your belongings are limited, responsibilities minimal, and emotional unattached to most, it's easy to enjoy the simplicity in almost anything. From the smallest comfort (soft ground for sleeping) to the biggest luxury (dry clothing) it's amazing how your perception and senses have changed. Knowing that I am a product of the Gen-Y, I will savor this feeling while it lasts.
PERCEPTION: I have been leading a fairly non conventional life for the last year. Housing with friends, sleeping in hammocks, and living out of a duffel bag. Now I'm housing in the forest, sleeping in a tent and living out my backpack. With that said, all of my amenities are all around me (water source: stream, housing: flat ground, entertainment: environment). And with a little bit of planning you are able to get anything you want. All of sudden the enjoyment you would have received at the end your day from an ice cold beer, is as enjoyable, if not more, than a hot cocoa. Your medium-rare, slightly salted and peppered, steak is now replaced with instant mashed potatoes and beef jerky.
SENSES: I kinda feel like a super hero. Only in the sense that my senses have been heightened for better or worse. Eyes: I am now looking for particular angles of rocks as I step on them, leaves floating in the streams I grab water, imprints in the mud as my friends hike ahead of me and eyes glowing in the dark as I night hike (to be explained later). Smell: not only walking behind smelly hiker (including myself at times) can turn a head, but also the smell of trees blooming, camp fires in the distance and exhaust as we approach roads. Most of these smells certainly bring joy and comfort to whom are in the trail and would probably not be as recognizable had they all not have some sort of significant meaning (food, people, town, etc). Sound: trickling water in the distance, the gushing of wind coming down the mountain, murmur of chatter as you near a group of people and creaking of trees against each other and red squirrels squeaking at each other as they fight in the branches. Taste: I don't care how bad you cook, I bet your worst attempt at ramen noodles would taste like a $10 meal given 2 days on the trail - especially when food literately runs through your family's veins. Touch: every pointy rocks you step on towards the end of the day, the temperature of the wind when your dropping trow in the middle of the woods, to the twigs you set your tent above.

Marathon Hiking:
In running a marathon is 26.21875 miles. In television, a marathon is typically the sequential broadcast of a single or a number of related television programs. Well in hiking, it's carrying your house, water, food, clothing and other amenities on your on your back for over 26 miles. In my over achieving situation I went the extra mile... or extra 6 miles. My hiking day started at 10:30am. The intent of today's hike was to get as far as possible as the promise of rain was likely. So, Sno (a friend within our hiking group) and I started out with full packs, energized bodies and music blaring (Sno is famous for hiking playing 80's rock on his portable speaker). Well before you know it we were 18 miles in and stopped at a shelter to gather some water. A this point in time we checked in with each others mental and physical states and decided we would attempt to go another 8 miles to the next shelter and earn our "marathon badge". Fast forward, to 11pm and we were just outside the shelter with our headlights on and we're eating dinner on the leeward side of a mountain (where the 30mph, cold wind, was not blowing). We were eating here because at this point we decided to go an additional 6 miles - crazy, I know . P.s. never buy the 89 cent can of Buffalo Chicken Spread at a dollar store - not worth it.

So we hike on in the dark. Note that we just hiked 26 miles (the farthest I have ever hiked yet) and are about to night hike (the first time I would ever hike not during the day). So as we walk along the Appalachian Trail, approaching the base of Roan Mountain we are still rocking out to 80's music. Sno walking in front and me behind him, I occasional check the surrounding area to see what the landscape is like. Well on one of those scenery glances I see two large eyes, glowing in the dark several, several feet tall... Over the sound of the radio, I shout to Sno "eyes left, eyes left". Saying this while walking forward and looking left, Sno stops and looks at me puzzled. Once he realizes that I am looking at something of significance, he also glances over. Not saying, but I am pretty sure it was a bear. Regardless of whatever animal it was, we started singing whatever song was on the radio, LOUD, and started walking a little faster. Meanwhile I am checking behind us every couple of seconds. Needless to say I saw nothing. However, this same occurrence happens another 3 more times. Lets just say there is a fine line between "ignorance is bliss" and "knowledge is power".

Adding to the story, we have had 3 miles to go when reached the big incline to the top of Roan Mountain. With every step we take, the wind increases and the temperature decreases. At this point the the switch backs (trails that constantly crosses back and forth in order to minimize the the steepness going up the mountain) are becoming nothing but connecting boulders. The sound of Sno's radio is now masked by the whooshing of the wind and every inch of our bodies are sore and cold. Finally we reach the camping area (flat small area) by 2:30am, set up our individual tents and pass out from one long ass day.

How do you top this experience? Well easy enough for us we did not have to wait long. We slept for 3.5 hours and got back up on our feet. With the wind still gushing and temperature we set forth for 18 miles. Why? Cause at the end of the tunnel was a hostel... And it's a place that harbors warmth and dryness. Anywho, we summit Roan Mountain within the first couple miles of our hike and begin what we thought was the descent. Little Did we know, we had 2 more ascents to go, before our hike for the day was over. Not to go into much of the details this is what we faced. Wind gusts on top of a grassy bald (no trees) up to 50 mph with a constant 30mph wind, 35 degree temperature, 99 percent humidity as we were walking through a cloud/fog, sore feet/bodies from the 32 miles the day previous and to top it off, a full intestinal track... Let's just say this was the worst weather I have ever EVER encountered in my life and may be just be most epic I may ever encounter on the trail (or I would like to think).

Ok enough story time for me. Back to getting some midday sleep for me as I enjoy my zero, in my tent as it's raining and will continue to rain for the next 48 hours - and thus why we decided to hike 50 miles in two days (to avoid walking in the rain on top of the horrible conditions we were already in). Sometimes there is method to the madness.

Day 30

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4/27/13 by Vic

So it's been a while since I've updated y'all on whats going on. So here it is.

Trail Names:
"Comfy" : This name was given to Bo as this was the word he used to describe how he prefers to live. Now yellow blazing the trail (Yellow Blaze: hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail), Bo has become a great asset in the logistical aspect of our adventure. Before we get into a town for a resupply, he will befriend everyone in the community, set up a room for the night and most often do the research on transportation to and from the city. This has been working out great because he is spreading BackpackingAT's love and allows us to be very efficient with our time off the trail.

"Pundit" : This was the name given to me just as we crossed into the North Carolina, from Georgia. By definition, it's an expert in particular subject or field who is frequently called on to give opinions about it to the public. Thus when it comes to describing our BackpackingAT campaign, I usually speak for the group. This name also just happens to have the word "pun" in it. This is most noteworthy as I have been particularly quiet around the camp fires in the beginning in order to gauge what this hiking culture is all about. Well every now and then I would chime into a conversation, humoring anyone within earshot with a witty pun that currently relates to the conversation. After a while, people around the fire would say "The pundit strikes again" once a pun has been released. Good stuff.

Eric and Lauren: these two have evaded being given names for now. But don't you worry I have a feeling that should change here in the near future.

The Group: We are going strong and have found ourselves at different paces. As mentioned before Comfy, is usually one city ahead of us waiting for us to resupply, while slack packing throughout the day. I believe he plans to get some solid trail time in after the smokies as you have to pay $20 to stay overnight (1 week permit) and plus there is only 1 road, which makes logistics for him not so comfy. Eric and Lauren are about 1.5 days behind the bubble of people we are hiking with. However after being well rested I know they catch up in no time- it will be great to have them back. Me, we'll I am kinda taking advantages of both aspects. I hike fast and cover many miles in order to get to town early and rest up. This ratio of hiking/miles to rest has kept me with a pretty even pace with our hiking bubble. Keeping in mind there is no right or wrong pace to hike at, I am just referring to the bubble as the majority of the people we started with on our first day.

Terminology:
Hikers Midnight- this is usually 9pm. By this time it's completely dark out and everyone has moved to their tents

Nearo- the 24 hour virus that people have been getting in our current area. This entails in tense vomiting and diarrhea.

Fuck-me-stick - this is a smaller stick on the trails path that ends up getting kicked up high enough that it makes you trip over your own feet

Mustang - for males, pulling your shorts up to urinate

Bald - a mountain/hill top that has little to no vegetation other than grass.

Something I don't want to admit: while in Franklin NC, we got shuttled to a Walmart for a resupply after a days hike. Wearing the only clean clothes I had (leggings with shorts and a button down shirt) I was standing in the cereal isle deciding on what type of granola I was going to choose. Along comes a father and his teenage daughter walking down the isle and eventually passes me. Well after about 10 steps of passing me, they both look at each other cringe their faces and fan the air in front of their face. Yes I was a "people of Walmart". Sorry for being a dirty hiker.

Something I learned : don't have ropes hanging loosely from yourself or your backpack. They get caught on branches very easily and make you almost fall down the side of mountains.

Scary Moment: So I acquired this awesome large knife. However in the spirit of trying to cut down weight I sent it back home. Well later that day (after my little trail run) I loose my favorite little pocket knife. So now I am knife-less until I can pick up a knew one.

Audio Book: I had just finished "the adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and about to finish Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Let me tell you ... It weird learning That little red ridding hood was actually named little red cap. Plus I hope Disney payed these brothers lots of money because it is sooooo weird listening to the original versions of these stories.

Moment in Time Entry: At this point in time I am writing to you from a log cabin like bathroom in the parking lot of Clingmans dome. Its dry, chilly and smells urinal cakes. But he it could be worse. So this morning we woke up to the hard rain on the tin roof and the wind smacking the makeshift wall of our shelter against itself. Hearing this the other 5 people in the shelter where fairly determined to take a zero day in shelter. This was confirmed after they saw their breath in front of them once the sun was up high enough. I dress in all my layers and set out not really knowing what to expect, except rain, wind and 10ft of visibility. Of course the others in the cabin heed warning, but bull-headed and clinging to my youth and physical ability I set foot onto the trail. Needless to say I made it and I am glad I did!

Birthday: Wooo I'm physically 28, mentally 30, emotionally 22 and looking 24. Life is great. For my birthday, I preformed the "three S's" inside, used the Internet for 3 hours, washed my clothes in a machine, and cooked for 15+ people over a metal grill. I received a bed to sleep in from Bo, a mini pocket knife from "cat", cold beer from other hikers and red velvet piece of cake. To top of the day, I soaked in a hot mineral hot springs for an hour. Success. Thanks to all of you for your calls, texts, posts and thoughts from afar. Miss ya! XO

Day 20

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By Bo

Had such an amazing time in franklin and met Memphis aka colin and spencer aka papa smurf played disc golf with them and saw an amazing river. Met some locals named eric who drove us back into town he was a chill ass dude that had been living there for a few years. The thunder storm hit right as we walked into the hotel and we posted up and enjoyed being out of the nasty grasp of nature. Met up with homeward bound and his buddy so we shared a room and at 9 the cali crew hit the shuttle to winding stair gap hit 13 miles in to liglog camp site. Met up with spence and colin and planned out noc and Fontana that night I'm chilln at noc now with Jimmy Johnson aka Florida and machete and pac man enjoying the river and meeting new peeps cat and I saw 22 and push up at the general store. Got a lift into Fontana dam and met a few locals at the restaurant that told me about the tail of the dragon which is a road that turns 300 times in 13 miles. People come from all over to drive it and ride it.

Day 19

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By Lauren

Time hangs in the air like a hammock. It offers rest and rejuvenation OR a stuff sack in your pack and a good long climb to the next camp site. It is indifferent to your choices. You may add another 5 miles to your trek and reach the next shelter, or you may take that time and that hammock to stand still and take a 'Nearo Day'.. Let hedonism get the best of you. Granted, hedonism on the trail is what most enjoy daily where I'm from. A warm shower, a bed with pillows, the choice to NOT walking 15 miles today... And that choice is not an easy one to make when you are not used to being sweaty, filthy, hungry, and frankly sick and tired of walking all-day-long. Ive actually grown accustomed to sleeping-in in my tent (though sleeping-in on the trail is only around 8:30am) just to add more rest time to my day. Time, though.. Time is a tricky illusion. When hiking;  it seems to just hang there.. Like an endless hike, like an eternity of the decision made. When hiking there is no waiting for the next road, the next shelter, the next hill, the next tree even. Everything takes place in the moment. As tiring, sweaty, and filthy a moment it may be.. ;) it's still in the moment... and because of this I have noticed I am happiest on the trail where the satisfaction lies in sticking to plan, of moving forward. The time will move forward regardless. It's your choice what to do with it. 

In saying this I have still opted to finish the day in this lovely cabin that Bo has rented for us. LOL! Well you can't have the sweet without the sour, right?! In this case which is the sweet? The trail with all of its sweat, tears, yet fulfillment and beauty.. OR the warm and comfy cabin complete with a full kitchen and steamy shower? I suppose both our equally lovely and equally essential to our growth and contentment, at least in moderation. Is this even making sense? Hah!  Perhaps the trail is getting to me. Have I mentioned it's only been two weeks and three days? Oh dear.. Anyways.. On with my day. 

As I am writing a thru-hiker just passed me of name of Bubblehead (I THINK that was his name.. trail names are a little harder for me to remember than names that we've grown up with and are accustomed to learning). I covered my mouth as we said our hellos, as I was in the middle of consuming a hand full of dried fruit. He laughed and said, "Don't worry, there ain't no use for manners out here." Goodness, he's right. There happens to be about 10-15 men to every woman. I suppose that in the mind of a man this means that he can behave as if he is a sailor or in a fraternity or whatever all-men organizations that tend to bring out the BOY in the man. Suddenly there is no "excuse me" after burps, farts, really any disgusting habit that boys are actually weirdly proud of. Not only do they not say "excuse me" but they have little fart games and have found clever ways to actually ANNOUNCE the fact that they just did whatever gross thing they just did. Forgive me.. I did not grow up with brothers so I am learned a great deal (too much) now. Strangely when you throw a man out into the wilderness suddenly social norms seem to have all but entirely disappeared in this regard. Not that this specifically bothers me.. I just thought it weird enough to mention. Lol! The eating habits of most of these men has been one habit that HAS affected me negatively. Perhaps I shouldn't blame the guys. It should not be there concern how their choices are effecting my diet.. Certainly not! It is actually my poor will power and to be fair, there simply is not many healthy options for health conscious individuals on the trail. At the very most you may find an apple and banana in the local general store. Other than that the healthiest option I found today while purchasing food for the next three days on the trail was V-8 juice and strawberry flavored pop-tarts. Eric, however, had no problem finding a frozen pizza and cheerwine (similar to cherry coke) for dinner in the cabin tonight. It's true that we need to keep our calorie intake incredibly high, as we are burning an ungodly number of calories per day.. And pizza and soda really does sound AMAZING after trekking up 17 miles (okay-we happened to slack-pack today- which means hiking without our full packs) but still.. 17 miles is 17 miles no matter which way you slice it. Even with the poor diet I am losing weight like crazy. I have not seen my tummy this small since I was 15 years old and my clothes seem to be hanging on me. I realize this could just be my active imagination since its been a mere 2 1/2 weeks on the trail.. But I notice a difference in Eric as well. So I suppose.. Bring on the pizza?? ...but I must be conscious of finding healthy options as well.. Perhaps order food from an outside source? Still debating. I've never felt better than when I was drinking fresh vegetable juice very morning. I wish there was a way to make that happen. 

Oh dear.. I smell pizza! :D

-Memorable creature sightings from the last couple of days: 6-foot dark snake (didn't look dangerous), chipmunk eating a nut, 4-5 squirrels, 2 lizards, MANY prehistoric size insects and bees

Day 11

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4/8/13 by Vic

Well if I learned anything from lasts night sleep, it's that you don't set up your tent on a hill. At the time of finding a site and setting up my Big Agnes (2 person) tent I thought everything was level. Well after crawling into my tent for the night and my muscles relaxed, I slowly rolled to right side of my tent. Ohh boy. Well in efforts to still salvage a good nights sleep, I actually slept on the foot of my tent and used my sleeping pad as a barrier to stop rolling to the side of my tent. Ahh innovation of the tired and sleepy.

This morning we all roll out of our tents Round 7:30am and slowly cook breakfast and take down our site. With some great company of friends (of which we bonded with the night before) we continue the banter from which we ended and all part ways ( heading in the same direction, but at various intervals as we all take off at our own pace).

A this point in our journey I have learned that I am a fast hiker. It's something about the uphills that I just want to conquer. Once I feel these muscles start to burn, and beads of sweat roll down my face and dive off my brow, nose or chin, I get into my competitive mode. It's sort of like working out or when your on a treadmill. You know there is an end to your strenuous activity, so you just keep going till you reach your mark, or summit of the hill - just to do it all over again in another half mile. I have also realized that I use much of my arms when going up hill. Using my Leki poles, I dig them into the ground just behind me and to my side and push myself up the hill giving me quads a break from all the work. I find this to be very advantageous for me as my swimmers build gives me some of the upper body strength I need to flow steadily up the ascents.

Knowing all of this, I have now started hiking on my own and have been meeting up with the rest of the crew in the evening hours. This allows me to prepare the bag line, fire pit, clothes line and check out the nearby water (if any) all before they arrive.

During today's hike I started listening to my audio books from LibriVox. If you don't know what this is, it's a online site where you can download audio recordings of books that are in the public domain (mainly older books that have been out for over 20 years and several renditions of the book can be found). Anywho, I started listening to "The adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain. I thought this would be appropriate due to my current occupation. Additionally I have deprived myself of childhood stories such as this due to my lack of interest in reading as a much younger youth (and even now). Well let me tell you, today's 11.7 mile hike went by so quickly ( 28 chapters later). Don't worry though I only keep one ear on plugged in while the other senses are still fully looking for the dangers within the AT.

I have come to realize there are all sorts of people on the trail and they come from all "walks" of life. You find this out in your "elevator" speech as you leap frog each other in the trail or perhaps over the evening camp fire. Of course there are some people you click with and others you would just rather hide in your tent instead of interacting with. This same thing could be said if you took a sample of people in your office building or grocery store. With that said you easily find commonalities with everyone. Mine is usually a connection to where they live (Michigan, Chicago, San Fran, and LA). However if there is not a connection there you can always fall back on... Hiking the the Appalachian Trail.

TOTALS
Pooped in the woods: 7
Wildlife: Squirrel, Birds, Catapiller, Black flies, Beatle, Ants, spiders
Miles Hiked: 90.7
Don't want to admit: It has taken me many tries to light a fire VS my 1 match it usually takes.
Lesson learned: It's great not be the first person on the trail in the morning. Let other people walk through the spider webs first.
Hiking Quote: God made dirt and dirt don't hurt.
Trail names I have came across: grey beard, just, pro tip, wild man, homeward bound, mammoth, squirrel, 22, machete
Food: Instant Mashes potatoes and SeaBear smoked salmon
Blisters: 0

Day 3 -11

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3/31 - 4/8 by Lauren

I'd like to preface by saying that a LOT has changed since I wrote my first entry on the evening of day two. I wish I could say that what I refer to as 'changed' in the last couple of weeks is that they've been extremely eventful and exciting.. Lol.. Okay, it's been lovely in many ways, its just that the speed at which I am accepting this new lifestyle is not quite as propelling as I'd hoped. I'm not sure if I expected to assimilate automatically as much as I just didn't really think about it all that much. You may think that it might be crazy to make a decision to leave your life for 5 months without really thinking.. And I must admit I don't really have a rebuttal. The things I know: I love hiking. I needed a monumental change. So I suppose this equaled: Appalachian Trail?!

Well instead of over analyzing my thoughts I will just jump into the highlights of the last 2 weeks. ;) Day 3: I woke up refreshed and feeling quite wonderful. We heard that a storm might be headed our way so we packed in a way that left our rain gear accessible. After hiking 2-3 miles it did in fact start to rain so we stopped at a shelter to reassess. Bo decided to take the day off from hiking and set up camp right then and there. Vic, Eric, and I decided to cover ourselves in our rain shells and truck on.

The best thing about Gor-tex rain gear is that it DOES keep that rain out. The not so great= it causes you to sweat and squeak and feel like you are looking at the outside world through a plastic rain-proof bubble. :p ..By the end of the hike all of the previous feelings of bliss, energy, and oneness with my surroundings was GONE.. Rudely replaced with aching muscles, lack of breath, and an enormous yearning for a nice hot bath and the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy.

By the time we reached the highest peak of the day's mileage I literally could not place one foot in front of the other. To this moment I cannot fathom what changed so much in one day; how I could go from so happy and free to a wet crippled mess. The boys could certainly see how much pain I was in. It would've been obvious to anyone. I'm almost certain that they were only able to recognize me from my purple rain jacket and not the angry, sputtering, hunched old Gollum like creature that was huffing up the last steps of the hill.

Eric seemed worried (or perhaps scared) so he offered to set up camp right there on the top of the peak. At that point I really should have dove into my tent and prayed for sleep but instead I decided I would read a little to take my mind off the exhausting day. As soon as my book mentioned how often trees fall over and crush campers (poor choice of reading material- I know) I was wide awake and counting all of the many trees surrounding our tent, complete with muddy, sopping ground, which to me meant muddy soppy trees roots ready to let go of all that was life. Oh goodness, that was a hard night. The next day I awoke FAR from refreshed and we continued our hike after a couple of hours of sun-drying our gear.

It really was a miraculous view to wake up to. Eric and Vic had selected quite the spot. I only wish I could have been in the state of mind to appreciate such a thing. The hike that day (or should I say my mood) pretty much mirrored the day prior. My strength had been replaced by muscles that didn't even feel sore, they felt INJURED. Now I am aware that I am not actually injured, however I really wish someone could tell the pain signals to my brain. Would this rude awakening happen to anyone who is suddenly carrying a cement block and hiking about 6 hours a day MORE than my favorite Palos Verdes day hike? Well, perhaps.. But Eric and Vic seem FINE. Better than fine even. Elated, happy, joyful.. Joking and playing around every chance they get.. Hmm. ;)

We reached Neels Gap the night and opted for a cabin. One day to reenergize lifted my outlook incredibly. The next morning we took our backpacks down to the local store to once and for all find out the weight we've actually been lugging around with us. Keep in mind this is after we've dropped quite a bit of weight through a bounce box and simply sending items back home. Vic's pack= 44 pounds. Eric's pack 49 pounds. My pack= 42 pounds. FORTY-TWO pounds??!!! How is it possible that my pack is only 7 pounds lighter than my boyfriend, Eric's pack, who is 60 pounds heavier than me? As a small female at 108 pounds, I was instantly, and some might say unwarrantedly, ANGRY. In my mind I started blaming all the extra weight on Eric's over eating (he does NOT over eat as much as I tend to under eat- I was obviously being irrational) and furiously charged ahead on that days hike for the first couple of hours until the anger wore off and I could actually discuss it with him like a normal person. lol! That night, however, I went to sleep in a much better state of mind. Vic found a lovely spot on top of hill and lookout point. We made a huge fire and although it was cold and windy the fire and movement kept us warm until bed time. I fell asleep with the intention of healed aches and pains and a new start.

We awoke to .. an ice storm. I keep making fun of Eric when he describes it as this, as it sounds so melodramatic, but this really was what it was. Eric and I huddled in our tent for an hour or so debating on whether or not to leave our cozy sleeping bags. Finally Eric decided there was no way that we could venture out in the freezing sleeting storm. He momentarily stepped out to talk with Vic, saying the weather outside was as bad as it seemed, and then coming back 2 minutes later saying Vic was already packed up and there was no turning back. I had already mentally prepared myself for the worst so I bravely stepped outside the tent's protective shelter.

It was not AS bad.. It was much worse. Picture the scene from Forest Gump when Lieutenant Dan is egging on the storm with all its wind, rain, and furry.. but now picture ice. OKAY.. I may be reaching, but it FELT like that to ME. I happen to be a California girl and am accustomed scarves and gloves on a 70 degree day, if I must tell the truth. Eric and Vic broke down the tent in record time and we were off into the freezing wind of the A.T. Instead of going over every moment of the day's hike, I will just say that it was filled with a lot of cursing (at the weather), slipping, and miserable energy. This time it was not just me, but Eric as well, and I must admit that it made me feel better that we were both finally on the same page! Haha! At one point I could have sworn I had frostbite on my fingers (my gloves had completely soaked through) and I'm pretty sure I heard Eric mutter, "I think my shoulder is broken". The misery of that day actually kept us together, while Vic gallivanted off like it was 80 degrees at the Spring Fair.

We ended up finding Vic at a shelter about 7 miles down the trail, happily drinking a hot spicy concoction he had cooked over his camp stove. So far it seems weather just does not affect him? Eric and I jumped into our tent as fast as it was up but not before learning some helpful tips from some fellow hikers like using socks for hand gloves in desperation, and setting up the entire tent in the shelter and then picking it up to move it outside in the rain. Now I realize that this day could've been anything I wanted it to be and I really am coming to terms with not allowing pain and the cold reflect how I'm feeling. Even in the harsh reality of pushing myself as hard and as fast as I could hike in a very uncomfortable environment, it really was a very beautiful day. Ice was frozen to every tree of the forest and gave the woods a very surreal beauty.

The next morning was beautiful and sunny. Eric and I slept in a bit and spent hours hang drying our wet clothes, mats, and gear. The air was chilly but the sun raised our spirits 100%. We sped through our hike with seemingly endless energy. It was a wonderful day. After clouds there really is sunshine. I literally had the song running through my head, "the sun will come out tomorrow.. Lalala"! Funny how weather can affect one's mood so exponentially. Or perhaps it was mostly the comparison of the two days. Whatever it was, it was wonderful. This outlook has seemed to stick. It has been a beautiful last couple of days and I have enjoyed them to there fullest. Sure, my muscles still ache. My energy tops off at around 7 miles and I start to completely lose it (emotionally and physically) but I feel that I am getting stronger. I know I have not developed my 'trail legs' YET and that everyday will have many challenges but will also include a stronger version of myself. Well.. Here's to hoping.. ;)

Day 10

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4/7/13 - by Bo

I jumped off the trail to get into neels gap and had to avoid the storm. Everyone will meet me at the cabins later to get outa the rain. Getty sleep and enjoyn the simple things in life. Ganna try and ditch about 20 lbs tomorrow so I can be lighter. My pack has a broken strap so it's tougher to walk and readjust before I head back out.

We got dropped off at dicks creek gap amd put In 10 miles and enjoyed some great comrodery around the camp fire, kinda reminds me of why I'm Doin this... Vic is determined and it helps keep motivated, but I need to relax and remember this is by choice. Meet some likeminded people form all over. Enjoying the excercise and friendships the most outa this experience so far. Ps everything hurts!

Got off the trail a ill early so I could get a massage and the crew will hike in tomorrow, micro hotel is nicer than Safire or budget, but no hikers... To meet people go to Safire plus u get the free ride from the shuttle .

Now at Safire with Eric and the crew and going to Mexican while doin laundry and enjoyn the simple things like running water electricity and a toilet,