Day 166: Stealth Site

Start: Sam’s Gap (AT mi 319.7). Stop: Stealth Site (AT mi 305.3). Today’s miles: 14.4 miles. Total AT mileage: 1887.8 miles.

Coming back to trail after time off is difficult.. not because of not wanting to be here or anything mentally negative, but because it’s hard on the muscles.. everything started to relax and heal-then BAM-right back at it with a very heavy food bag. None of this was unexpected.. I knew I’d physically struggle today, and overall I’m proud of my progress! I’m just tired..

I woke up in my Asheville hotel sometime after 8am.. my room was gorgeous and the king size bed was just what I needed to rest up before today. I packed and loaded up the car, checked out with the hotel and then got a breakfast burrito to go from their bistro. It was wayyyyy better than I thought it would be, and it included salsa and guacamole-no extra charge!

I drove to the Enterprise where SoFarSoGood was already waiting for me, I was early, but she was even earlier! I quickly went inside to handle the return, then the two of us set off for Sam’s Gap, happily chatting the whole way. Once there, she gave me a few snacks she had gotten me, some great fig bars and some apple cinnamon cookie things that I tried when she picked me up-that I absolutely fell in love with! SoFarSoGood is truly an incredible trail angel!

We hugged and said our byes for now, knowing we’ll hopefully be seeing each other again in the near future.. and then, me and my over stuffed with food pack headed up the road and eventually up a dang mountain. The terrain was smooth but steep, and it probably felt steeper than it was because of the load on my back. I had sent a good bit of stuff home with Lauren, but it was like I subconsciously added that missing weight in food alone.. luckily, the more I eat the lighter it gets!

I passed several gentlemen out hiking today, along with a couple, but there wasn’t a whole lot going on. The tops of the mountains were wooded, so I only got views every now and then of the other mountains spotted with turning leaves. The sun was shining and the temperature was mostly in the high 50s, so I was happy.. just slow going and soaking it in. I think I’ll even miss the struggles of the trail soon, when it’s over. I’m making sure to take the time to appreciate everything I can, while I can.

I ate lunch on the side of the trail at a stream, so I could load up on water while eating. I didn’t eat until after 1:30 thanks to that burrito and a weekend full of incredible meals. I just wasn’t hungry. The weight instantly felt better once I finished and lugged that pack back on. By 4pm I made it to the shelter I had originally aimed for. I decided to fill up water again and then push on. It was too early to sit around cold, I’d rather get some more mileage with the sun still up.

I struggled to find the stealth spot listed in some comments, but when I saw a sloped clearing I decided to go ahead and cook my dinner, eat, then hike on to the next shelter-headlamp close by. I knew getting to the shelter would end up causing me to night hike until 7:30-8pm, since the sun is setting earlier and earlier, an estimated 6:50 set time for today. I cooked and ate my dinner, already putting on my jacket and gloves while sitting there waiting on the food to cook. It’s getting quite chilly tonight I think.

Within 20 minutes of repacking and heading out, close to 5:45pm, I got stung by a wasp on top of my left foot-it stung me through the sock and was wedged between my foot and my shoe. It HURT. I kept hiking, because what else is there to do? However, when I saw a flat chunk of ground off to the left around 6:30, I decided I’d make camp here instead of pushing the 3 more miles to the next shelter. I cleared out the leaves, limbs, and debris from a section of ground to put my tent. Before setting it up though, I quickly scouted out a tree to hang my food in and got that squared away before I lost the sunlight.

Once satisfied with my food bag, I set to work putting up the tent and unpacking. I was shivering while doing all of this, so the second everything was done, I was hopping right into this sleeping bag. I almost swapped it back out for the quilt, because I hate how heavy it is, but in this moment of cold weather with the wind blowing and the sun gone-I’m thrilled I kept it! I’m not toasty, by any means, but surly when I finish messing on this phone and can zip it the rest of the way up-I will be! I don’t think my quilt would have kept me warm tonight.

So, the plan for tomorrow is just over 19 miles, followed by 11 or so into Hot Springs, North Carolina. The trail passes right through town and I already booked an hour hot mineral water soak for that afternoon-it’s practically my only real motivation to get to my planned location for tomorrow, since I know I’ll be cold in the morning and not wanting to get up.

For the record, as I’m laying here listening to the wind blow around, I can also hear the semi distant howls of what I assume are coyotes. That’s a little unnerving, for sure, but the beauty of the wasp sting from earlier is that this Benadryl I’m about to take for that will probably also help me sleep and not think about these wild animals so close by.. ha! Gotta love nature! It’s always an adventure.. Sweet dreams.. y’all stay warm!