Start: Unnamed Campsite (AT mi 1107.6). Stop: Alec Kennedy Shelter (AT mi 1120.1) Today’s miles: 12.5 miles Total AT mileage: 95.1 miles
I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and then some other familiar buzzing noise. Flies. For whatever reason, 5-10 flies were buzzing around our campsite and irritating my peaceful sleep, which meant I might as well get up. It was almost 8am anyway, if I ever plan to leave camp before 9, I may need to set an alarm.. and so far I just can’t bring myself to do that.
I got up and got moving, slowly. Made some coffee and ate a protein bar, still completely stuffed from yesterday’s burger. Lizard ended up doing the same.. except she doesn’t drink coffee, so while I sipped mine, she did some yoga stretches on her sleeping pad. Maybe I need to start doing that in the mornings, too. But then I’d really never leave at a decent time!
Today was filled with ups and downs, rock scrambles and pine needles. While beautiful, with the sun out and shining, I’ll be honest.. it totally kicked my ass. The uphills were a struggle for catching my breath and for my quads, too.. but I enjoy that burn and struggle so much more than the careful slow step down the rocky declines.. on those I can catch my breath and cool down, but man it makes my right knee ache with each step.
I also took another tumble today, as well as one yesterday.. not sure if I mentioned that. I just randomly fall all the way to the ground with no obvious culprit besides lack of grace. I felt fine afterwards both times, but I’m sure my little slips to hug the earth aren’t helping my knee any.
However strenuous today was.. it was also pretty flipping awesome, because we got our first ever trail magic! A mom brought her 10 & 11 year old and their same aged cousin to hike into the trail some with trail magic! I got a coke and a cheese and jerky combo stick thing. So yummy! And she let us offload our trash! (It’s a big deal, we literally have to save all of our trash from food, snacks, wipes, everything until we pass a town or a state park with trash cans.)
When we got to camp, Adam and K were there! I thought for sure I’d never catch up to them! And Patron, Polka Dot, and Gandalf were already there, too. We briefly met them yesterday at the restaurant. They’re pretty funny, and none of them knew each other before starting either, they all just met within the last week! Patron is a huge Lord of the Rings fan, so he gave us each a ring (very nice one too, might I add), and said it’s to remind you to embrace your own journey (or something like that). Very cool. I put mine on my pack since my hands are swelling and then returning to normal with all the hiking.
We all cooked and ate our meals together.. we told our dinner mates about my falls, saying we may have to change my trail name to Tumble. Then I learned what Brown Blazing is! So; for the hike, we follow the “white blazes” that mark the entire Appalachian trail. Blue blazes mean a side trail, like the shelters or some other trail that intersects. Lizard told me today that pink blazing is when you speed up or slow down to be able to hike with a crush, I told her yellow blazing is when you “taxi” ahead to meet your friends to stay at their pace.. BROWN blazing is when you have to dig poop holes instead of going in the privies! YALL! I’m a brown blazer! Maybe my trail name should be BB. Hahahaha! Because of this convo, I told them about my Petty Bowel Syndrome, they said I should be named that, and PBS for short.. and when people ask why, instead of explaining just say, “I’m very knowledgeable.” LMAO!
Well, my food is in a bear box and I am all toasty warm laying in my tent in my most prized possession: the sleeping bag. It’s not nearly as cold as it was at the beginning of the week, but I’m keeping this baby with me for the foreseeable future. It just makes me happy.
Tomorrow, Lizard and I plan to do a nearo (nearly zero miles), and go to a hostel in Boiling Springs. We were considering also taking a zero (no AT miles hiked for the day) after that, but the town is small and the reviews of the area aren’t great. We’ll play it by ear, but if we don’t zero there, we’ll have big days the following 2 days, and then be able to zero in the bigger town of Duncannon. We shall see what happens! I’m excited for an easier day either way.. and so are my legs!
