Start: George W Outbridge Shelter (AT mi 1259.2). Stop: Leroy A Smith Shelter (AT mi 1276.1) Today’s miles: 16.9 miles. Total AT mileage: 251.4 miles
During the night my sleeping pad went flat on me.. I must have a slow leaking hole. I tried to ignore it, but around 1am I rolled over and my head smacked against the Shelter floor. Well hell. So, I got up as quietly as I could, which isn’t quiet at all in a shelter, and I blew my pad back up.
At 5:45 I heard Derby getting up and getting moving. I thought long and hard about ignoring him, but my stomach growled in protest right as my hip started to ache, letting me know it was touching the floor already. I said to hell with it and got up.
I was packed, had already peed, and was practically chasing Derby down the trail by 5:55. I was proud. My hair was a mess, my teeth weren’t brushed yet, and there was sleep in my eyes still, but I’ll be damned if I woke up early and don’t get breakfast! Hahaha food is 100% motivation these days (although honestly, that’s not that new for me lol).
It was a half mile downhill to the parking lot the guy was going to pick us up at. Derby made it a couple minutes before I did, and it was 6:10 when I got to him. We hung out and I brushed my hair out.. the guy appeared just as he said he would at 6:20. Impressive.
Our trail angel’s name is Craig. He’s 43, single, and making plans to do the trail “soon” and loves helping thruhikers when he can. Not only did he drive us to McDonald’s in town, he took us through the drive through, then to a convenient store AND back to the parking lot he picked us up from! He had us back at 6:40! And refused to let me buy his breakfast or take any money to thank him for his kindness. A real nice guy.
We ate our food in the parking lot (two egg and cheese biscuits for me), I brushed my teeth and repacked my pack.. and we waiting for Cholula and Curmy to come down the hill. When they saw us they thought we were never picked up! Hahaha we surprised them with breakfast 🙂
Once everyone was ready, we headed to the trail and to the start of one hellacious looking climb. We put our poles away because Guthook (our AT app) told us it would be a 2 hands necessary vertical rock scramble for almost 2 miles. Cool. Towely caught up to us then, just before starting up the climb.. he had hitched in before the others that went into town last night.
They all were ahead of me, and honestly the uphill was so slow going for me before the scramble that I would literally walk for 30 seconds, stand still and catch my breath while uploading a picture to this blog. It’s quite a process to add pictures y’all. Hahaha
After I got yesterday’s entry posted, I started the rock scramble. It was difficult but so rewarding. The views were perfection! I took some video and will post it to FB.. definitely check it out. Once at the top, the trail was mostly flat for almost two miles.. Cholula and I hiked together awhile, then leapfrogged a bit. That section was so relaxing. The clouds were threatening a storm, but the rain held off throughout the time I was hiking! Thank my lucky stars.
The flat wonderful trail quickly turned back into the rocky hell-huge up’s and downs with no views, and when you think you’re back on soft ground, a razor sharp rock reminds you that you’re not. It went on and on and on and on.
I ate some candy sushi that curmudgeon and Cholula gifted me, a whole 900 calories for the 3 ounces of candy! Haha I enjoyed every bite and continued on.
When I got to the shelter just before 4pm, Derby was already there and so were 7 other hikers. They gave me the last spot in the shelter, 7 are laying side by side like sardines and TownLegs and I are feet to feet closing the shelter in: aka everything but my head is exposed to wind and my head is at Derby and some other guys feet. But I’m thankful as hell that I have a dry spot to lay on.. even if I didn’t take the time to figure out where the hell the hole in my pad is so I can fix it…
Because less than 5 minutes after I walked up to the shelter and realized I had a spot, the whole damn sky fell and will continue to do so throughout tomorrow! It’s pouring, the temps are dropping, we can see our breath when we speak. It’s going to be a low of 46 tonight.. thank god for my warm sleeping bag! I ate before 5pm to get all unpacked and repacked in here to try to warm up. This is a fun group.. but my friends are all camping already. Cholula and Curmudgeon set their tent up just before the rain. Towely and Lizard got their tent and hammock up during the rain, and I’m thinking FarOut and HotSauce are out there too. My new tent didn’t have a ground cloth and I was afraid it would flood out if I set up in the rain. My ground cloth will be delivered on Tuesday 🙂
It’s 7pm and I literally might be the only person still awake. I have a feeling I won’t sleep too great tonight, but oh well. I’ll make due, and then I’ll slowly trudge over 13+ miles of wet rocks tomorrow I guess, too. Hahaha why did I want to do this again? Lol