Day 143: Angel’s Rest

Start:War Spur Shelter (AT mi 669.4). Stop: Peter’s Mountain Trailhead (AT mi 657). Today’s miles: 12.4 miles. Total AT mileage: 1542.1 miles.

Y’all. I was supposed to hike 23.8 miles today. Instead I hardly hiked 12 before deciding to bail and praying my new plan would work out..

I started off well. I got up at 6:50 and rushed to pack and eat breakfast. Soundscape and Moose were already gone by then. I had my pack on and was walking out of camp by 7:35. Not too bad. The day started with a climb, like it seems to everyday, but I felt good and seemed to be going a bit quicker than normal. It was steep, I warmed up fast. There weren’t really any views. Just deep in the trees and greenery.

I climbed for what felt like a lifetime, then the trail meandered on top of the mountain for awhile. It started off nice, but then became a rocky jungle gym. Nothing like up in Maine, but more like Pennsylvania. Loose rocks all over the place. They weren’t hard to maneuver, they just hurt my feet and my ego. They slowed me down and I found it very irritating.

I started the downhill and parts were steep and slick, but overall just the same situation with making my feet ache with each step. I think it’s probably more the shoes and me hyper-focusing on them, but you try to tell yourself to quit thinking about something when all you’re doing is hiking through the woods and have no real distractions.. ha. It didn’t work very well.

I made my way down and ended up eating lunch on a small rock in the sunshine. I ate fast and was hardly sitting for 15 minutes all said and done. I started walking through a beautiful area near a rushing creek with gorgeous trees and tons of leaves covering the forest floor. It truly was lovely. As I walked along, I checked my app sometime around 1:30. I still had 11 miles to go.. that’s roughly 5.5 hours with my pace. So, I was looking at a 7pm arrival and that’s with no breaks or slowing down on the big climb still ahead of me.

I checked the next road crossing and made the decision to bail. I didn’t have service, so I messaged a hostel in town with my Garmin Inreach (man that thing is handy as hell). I told them where I was, that I didn’t have service, and that I wanted to be picked up, stay tonight and tomorrow night, and slackpack the 20 mile section from this point to Pearisburg. They said “hold tight, I’m on my way.” I was giddy!

I don’t know what came over me, but I just did not want to have to rush up that mountain and then trample over a rock studded mountain top to get to camp by dark, and more than likely be a bit late.. only to wake up and hike 8 miles to town anyway. Today was going to be 23.8 miles followed by 8.6 miles tomorrow. Now it’s 12.4 miles today, and 20 miles tomorrow (but without all my gear). TomAto-TomaTo.

Doc Peppa picked me up pretty quickly. I was expecting it to take over an hour and she had me picked up and checking into the hostel by 2:30.. mind you, the texting took about 25 minutes to go through on the Garmin.. so all in all, this was quick! I ended up picking a private room with a full sized cushy bed. The bunks looked nice, but I wasn’t risking those mattresses. If I’m paying money, I want comfort! I dropped my stuff, dug out my wallet, and then.. shockingly.. walked a quarter mile to a Mexican restaurant. And now we’ve determined the cause of my bail out today-apparently I wanted real food! Hahaha!

So, I got to La Barranca and promptly ordered cheese dip, a margarita, 2 enchiladas, rice and beans.. oh, and a water. I am here to tell you I devoured everything on that table. I think the waiter was either in shock or highly impressed. I scraped the plate clean, I used the very last chip in the bowl to get the last eensy weensy bit of cheese dip left (again, I considered licking the bowl, but stopped myself). It was so good.

A little stuffed and with a visible pooch belly, I waddled myself down the street to the food lion to get my resupply for the few days after Pearisburg, and for lunch and snacks for tomorrow’s slack pack. Once all loaded down with groceries, I made my way back to the hostel. I put away and organized my food, got my slack pack ready for tomorrow, and then went to shower.

The bathhouse is separate from the trailer my private room is in.. but man, it’s nice! That hot water is even more appreciated now that it’s chilly outside. I scrubbed up and stayed under the hot water until my fingertips turned pruny. Back at the room, I laid out in bed and began typing this up.. and I’ve caught up with friends and my mom some. I also made sure to message Soundscape earlier so he wouldn’t be worried when I didn’t appear at camp. He and Moose pushed on and made it to the shelter after the campsite, for a 25.2 mile day. I would probably still be hiking right now if I was trying to get there!

It looks like I’m going to have to get over my want for sleeping in and make myself get up earlier and get the day started sooner to make my mileage before night fall. It just is what it is, and as much as I hate it.. I’ll hate falling behind and being required to still be hiking this trail come December even more. I had hopes that this trek would turn me into a morning person. It hasn’t. I don’t think it ever will.. so, I’ll just have to force it for now to meet my goals. Which is ok. Hiking in the morning is usually the most enjoyable, once I actually get over the irritation of being awake.

I leave out of here tomorrow at 7, so it looks like it’s already my bedtime. I think I’ll be sleeping good tonight! Sweet dreams, y’all!