Start: Moose Mountain Shelter (AT mi 1761.9). Stop: Jacobs Brook Stealth Site (AT mi 1778.1). Today’s miles: 16.2 miles Total AT mileage: 753.4 miles
I’ve really been on a “good sleep” kick the last week or so, and I am 100% not complaining! I slept soundly all night until the sun peaking through my tent woke me up after 5am. I went back to sleep, but ended up getting up at 6:30 to pee. I handled that, then changed clothes and packed. They weren’t any dryer hanging outside than they were when I took them off my body yesterday, but I’m going to pretend they smelled better because of the whole airing out deal.
I was on the trail by 7:15am and had originally planned to go 17.7 miles to a shelter. I had 2 big ascents today, one was over 1000ft of elevation gain, the other was over 2000. Ha. Good times. Surprisingly, I actually felt good though! Don’t get me wrong, my hips are still bugging me, almost like I need to be adjusted by my chiropractor.. that type of ache, and my knees hurt on the downhills, but overall, I’d say today was a win.
On the first uphill I was happily chugging along. Over half way up I got great cell service and there was a beautiful look out equipped with the perfect sitting rock, so I sat down and worked on uploading yesterday’s blog. It was a glorious 20 minute break that I was thrilled I took the time for. The rest of the way up wasn’t too bad either, shockingly. I cruise along, hardly having to stop for breathers. The sun was shining and I just couldn’t believe my luck, that I’m feeling this much better already. Thank God and science for antibiotics!
I did however fall twice. In mud. One of the times it caused both feet to be completely submerged in thick mud up passed my ankles. Awesome. I also landed on my right butt cheek, so that was also soaked in watery mud. All of this happened well before noon, and I was so annoyed with myself for tripping up, stubbing my toes, and for the falls that the second I found a semi decent rock I stopped and ate my lunch. I was barely 11am. But whatever, clearly my body needed some fuel.
The trail also went through more overgrown grass and boggy areas where almost all of the wooden planks were broken. Thankfully I didn’t fall in the thickest of the overgrown mess. It truly would have been full body and pack soaked if I did. Not to mention what I did fall in stinks pretty bad.. like I purposefully walked through a creek to attempt to rid myself of the foul smell-to no luck.
The second ascent started out great. The way the trail went up Smarts Mountain was straight up, then a little flat winding for half a mile or so (maybe more) and then back straight up until you got to the top. So, the first part really wasn’t bad. I actually passed people.. like 6 people! I didn’t know any of them and a few looked like day hikers but some definitely had the bigger packs and were either section or thru hikers. I think I was riding a high knowing I was passing folks.
It was steep trail with lots of rocks and roots. Then, out of no where, it turned into those huge rock slabs. I was cautious because parts were slick and this is the type of terrain I rolled my ankle on in New York. Also, for some reason at that point on the climb, bees took notice to me.. some type of yellowish looking bee, it didn’t look like a yellow jacket or a hornet, but whatever they were I was careful not to piss them off. I literally had 2-3 doing zoomies around my head for almost 35 minutes, and I didn’t want to swat at them for fear of being stung (one of the women I passed even made mention, “those sure do love you!” Yeah.. I noticed..). There was no water to high tail it to and jump in like in “My Girl” so I had to keep my cool.
Once I hit the halfway mark and the climb stopped for a bit, the crazy bees left me. As sunny and pretty as it was, I didn’t stay and look out at the sites much at all, mainly because of the antibiotic warning to avoid sun exposure. I was a little sad by this, as it was gorgeous enough to just sit and stare at all the mountains surrounding me. Such is life.
I started the second part of the ascent and immediately wanted to turn around and go back. It was so muddy and slippery and nothing like the well maintained first half. Some sections were steep enough to require some serious effort to push up on.. and all of it was unnerving because of the slickness. It felt like it just kept going up and up and up to nowhere. The never ending climb through mud. Sheesh.
When I finally did make it to the top, I saw signs pointing to tent sites, and then I saw the firetower. It was a stunning day, and I suspect the view from up there was mesmerizing, but I was too tired and still had over 4 miles to go, so I skipped the fire tower. A few hundred feet past there was a cabin where Jola and another hiker were. He told me I should stay, but I knew if I did I wouldn’t make it to town the day I need to in order to get the rental car to pick up Andrea. I’m on a tight schedule here, sort of.. at least tighter than feeling ok with stopping there. Lol
The rest of the day was downhill. Literally. And it hurt. It always hurts the toes and knees. And parts were still super muddy. It was sometime around the beginning of this downhill that I decided to read the comments about the shelter I was heading to, as a distraction to my pain. Literally comment after comment mentioned how bad the tenting was..Shit. I don’t want to sleep in a shelter if I don’t have to, and I won’t have to until the day after my tent gets soaked by rain.. which would mean not today!
I looked at the comments around the creeks I’d be crossing, starting from the shelter and working my way back. The one big creek had a comment about “stealth sites along the water” before and after the wooden bridge. Ok, new goal: get to a decent site before anyone else that reads this app does!
I crossed the bridge and turned left through the woods.. there wasn’t a trail, so I just pushed through the brush and limbs. Low and behold: a small campsite! Right by the water! It’s got a fire ring and space for 2-3 tents, although all of the spots are pretty root filled. I put my tent up in the most flat area I could find, and my pad will be over a root or two tonight, so I just need to be cautious when turning, that I don’t somehow cause my ground cloth, tent, and/or pad to rip. Haha-honestly, I’ve slept on worse.
After setting up, I went down to the creek, washed off and got water to filter. I soaked my feet for a while and then came back up to make dinner. My clothes are hanging out “to dry” again, and I’m about ready to head to bed. Another early night.. and another early morning, too. Because I shorted myself a mile and half, I have to tack that on to tomorrow’s hike.. so now that will be a longer day than today. But to be fair, the climbs don’t look as daunting tomorrow as they were today, so maybe this was for the best anyway.
I haven’t camped out completely alone since the beginning of this trek. It feels almost strange. But, I’ll be sleeping to the sound of the creek rushing by down below, so I think it’s going to be another night of great sleep. I hope so anyway 🙂
Keep at it. You’re doing great. Overcome those obstacles.