We woke up early to break down our tent fast for a couple of reasons; one – rain may be coming and two – we really weren’t as far off of the trail as we were supposed to be.
After breakfast, Warthog and I took off. Snow Monkey and Wonder Woman would follow shortly. I got maybe ten steps on the trail before I tripped and fell. There was an exclamation that was immediately followed by tears. “Not already! I’m so tired of this! I do this all the time!”, were the things I said between gasps while on the ground. I took off my pack and Warthog gave me a hug. It’s all he could do. Let me explain a little more. I fall… a lot. Yesterday, I fell four times. Once on my side, twice on my front, and once on my rear end. That’s a pretty excessive amount, even for me. But sadly, it’s not all that uncommon. I fell in front of another hiker yesterday and after making sure I’m okay, the rest of the group basically said, “Yeah, that happens a lot. At least she’s really good at falling” It really does and I kind of am. Usually I laugh it off. The fourth time I didn’t laugh. This morning I didn’t. But usually I can. I’m not sure what the problem is. Every time I go down, I’m glad not to have any serious injury. This is where I’m especially grateful for the people at home praying for us. I’m not sure you all know how clumsy I am – I rely on your prayer!
What do you do after you fall? You dust yourself off and get back up. So I did. We only had a couple of miles to cover before we got to the visitors center. There I would wait while electronics charged and Warthog ran into town to get our resupply. We ran into PR, Aspirations, and GQ here again. Same with Ricky Bobby, Legs, Brave, Cur Dog, Disciple, Monty and his father that’s joining him for Maine, and other hikers. It was truly a small reunion. That should also give you an idea of how long we stayed at the visitors center. We spent an hour before deciding to get going on chores. Warthog would resupply and I would work on photos, etc.
Warthog, Snow Monkey, and Wonder Woman were having a hard time getting a hitch. After they came back in, a woman in the dining room overheard them relaying their struggle to me and she offered to take them into town to Walmart. Woo! Hoo! Warthog gave her $10- for her trouble. Which she turned around and used to buy donuts to give as trail magic. It was so generous. She was thru-hiking this season but got injured and had to get off, so now she’s turned into a trail angel. I’m sorry for her injury, but appreciative that she didn’t let it keep her from the AT. Even if she’s not experiencing it like she hoped to.
Photo Above: The first “moose” we’ve seen.
The weather in the mountains is bad today and tomorrow. With winds reaching up to fifty miles per hour and temperatures in the low twenties, we debated on whether or not we should go back out. It’s much more mild where we are in the valley. However, we would be climbing up to 4,000 foot peaks and know it will be dangerous there. About six miles from here is a hut. We would push to that so we could still make our miles but sleep in a warm, solid structure. Unfortunately, the miles up to it are very steep. With a full resupply, we know our speed will be down. We aren’t sure we would make it before dark. We don’t really want to risk being out in the dark, under headlamps, in the cold and wind. Instead, we will wait in the valley. We will hike about a mile up to another stealth site and stay there. It takes a mile off of tomorrow and puts us back in the woods – but in a safer way. Tomorrow is supposed to be equally cold and windy. At least then we won’t necessarily be working against the clock to get to a solid structure.
It’s my brother-in-law’s birthday today. Darn it! I didn’t get a birthday portrait of him. I’ll have to make up for it when I get home. We didn’t have reception today, but luckily the visitors center had wifi, so we got to FaceTime and sing him Happy Birthday.
After my call with my sister and brother-in-law, we packed up and headed out. It was getting late, we were charged up and fully stocked. It was time to go. The plan is to hike on another mile or so just to get in the woods. It’s so difficult to get out of town, to leave flushing toilets and running water. We got just over a mile before we found our “stealth” site for the night. A stealth site is basically dispersed camping. You are choosing a site in the woods that will have minimum impact on the area. It is typically a cleared area where you can tell others have camped at. This site leaves us in the valley, but we are right at the base of the climb. Most of tomorrow will be climbing. I’m not too excited about it. Right before we left the visitors center, we weighed our packs. Full food and water, Warthog and I both weighed in at around forty pounds. That’s a bit heavy. Again, we are carrying more water than normal because our site tonight doesn’t have access to a spring. That only takes off three to five pounds. For future trips after the AT, we will be able to carry really light. The photo gear for this one is at least ten pounds. It’s a little out of hand, but allows us to fully capture the experience.
It’s windy here in our stealth spot, but not nearly as bad as I expect it is up on top. I imagine it is also warmer too. Tomorrow will be a cold, windy, heavy, long day of climbing. I imagine there will be some tears. And at the end of it, when all is hiked and done, I also expect there will be feelings triumph. At least I sure hope there will be.
-ansel