We managed to be the first ones out of the shelter, but it didn’t take long for Madlibs, Hot Legs, and Aleia to catch and pass us. We made the rookie mistake of dressing for the weather at the moment instead of dressing for how we will feel after hiking a few minutes. In other words, we way overdressed and had to stop a couple of times to take off clothes. Even though it was a little drizzley and cold, we quickly overheated when climbing.
Another milestone today, we passed 100 miles. Even though we had a longer day of hiking (for us), it wasn’t bad except for about 3/10 of a mile right before the summit of Mount Albert. Today was the first day I didn’t use any vitamin I, but I did rub a little Voltaren on my feet after 11 miles. I might have been a little tired because Bunny Tracks was leading the way most of the day.
When we entered North Carolina two days ago we thought we were starting to get a little stronger, but then we started climbing and felt like we had zero cardio. Fortunately, this was a similar experience for everyone when we started talking about it. Lucky 59 told us that the trail was originally supposed to end in NC and the trail designers weren’t happy about extending it down to Georgia. The end result was that they decided to make it tougher if they were extending it.
The first 5,000 peak we hiked over (Standing Indian Mountain) was such an easy walk that we barely noticed when we went over it, but Albert Mountain was a different story. The Nantahala Trail Club decided to import French trail designers to stick it to the hikers. Some might say that sometimes, there might not be room for switchbacks. To those I say “Pyrenees.”
Up to this point, I have forgotten to mention the trail clubs along the AT and all the work they put in every year to even make it possible for us to attempt the thru-hike. For every thru-hiker that finishes, I would imagine there are at least 100 trail maintenance workers who spend thousands of hours of volunteer work maintaining the trail. These are the true heros of the trail. No one actually hikes the trail alone. Throw in all those at home monitoring progress, sending packages, worrying about their babies out hitchhiking into town, etc and we each have support teams of a couple hundred people.
Some day, I hope to NOT have peanut butter poop while on the trail. (What? You didn’t think I’d stay serious for two paragraphs in a row?). What I wouldn’t give for a good ghost poop. Currently, I only allocate 9 sheets per visit and the peanut butter makes it a challenge to keep my quota. I was so proud of myself that I managed to extend a single roll all the way through Georgia and I am on track to extend it all the way to Fontana Dam. I didn’t want to have to resort to the one sheet per visit rule we used to do in Boy Scouts. How is that? Cut a hole to allow your finger through the sheet (don’t throw away circle). Use your finger to clean and then wrap the sheet around your finger to clean the finger. Use the hole to clean under your nail. Mission accomplished—one sheet.
We made it to the shelter before 5, but I was beat. Bunny did most of the work and even tried to help me cook. She does everything different than I do which interrupted my routine, so I didn’t appreciate the help with the food. I didn’t mind at all that she fetched water. I just wasn’t thinking clear. I even managed to mess up hanging the bea bags which resulted in me cutting the rope and loosing a carabiner up a tree. My future bags will now have to hang 5’ lower.
Hot Legs built another fire tonight—his finest to date. Why is every male a pyro at heart? Bunny and I just couldn’t take another late night, though, and were in bed by 7:30. Still way past hiker midnight.
EFG
Mount Albert. A memorable milestone and incredible views. Glad you had such a beautiful day for it.
One of our best so far