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- Hiked Today: 19.3 miles
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- Appalachian Trail (275.5 – 294.8)
- Total Hiked: 2,219.3 miles
- Total Paddled: 99.5 miles
Weather: 58 – 78°F, sunny and mostly clear
Elevation: 1,310 – 3,660 feet
Hot Springs Campground to Little Laurel Shelter
In one of my early posts, I think I said something like “the best laid plans of Stevie and Sumi often go awry.” Today would be one more example of this playing out on trail… me, trying to direct my hike, and the trail telling me it’s not going to be like that. There’s a balancing act there. Obviously, there’s some planning that’s needed, but I’m continuously reminded that there will be unexpected changes, opportunities, and events that come up which require me to react and adapt in the moment.
On the flip side, to complete a thru-hike of this magnitude, I don’t think I can be on the other end of the spectrum either; the attitude of just letting the winds carry me wherever and whenever. If I did, I’d likely find myself off trail on some whim or vortex relaxing at every hostel I passed 😅. Maybe not a bad thing, but I’d lose focus on the goal. I always like the line from the band Caamp in their song “Iffy,”
“I’m just a little twig floatin down the big ole riv.”
So, somewhere in between all that, not one extreme or another, is where I hope to be 😎
I have been feeling the urge to try kicking things up again and thought today would be the start of that glorious campaign. One might say, I felt it in my heart…
“Listen to your heart
When he’s calling for you
Listen to your heart
There’s nothing else you can do
I don’t know where you’re going
And I don’t know why
But listen to your heart
Before you tell him goodbye”
– “Listen To Your Heart” (1988) – Roxette
Inspired, I was up early and hiking around 6:45 am. It was tempting to head back into town for a third trip to the diner. I love that place. Very tempting indeed, but I resisted and upon reaching the road, turned right away from town. Instead, I set forth to cross the mighty French Broad River. It would have been quite the formidable adversary if wading across, but thankfully the road bridge allowed me safe passage.
On the other side, the trail cut off the road and followed parallel to the big river going upstream. It was beautiful and the rapids made me think of the Grand River back home, or maybe what it might be if it was more naturalized and not bound by concrete. Hmm, someone should get on removing that and bring the rapids back (there’s been a big movement to do this for years) 😉
Lots of up this morning, although it was rollercoaster-like, two steps up, one back down sort of thing. I was rewarded on the climb with a stellar view looking down upon the river, the town of Hot Springs, and the surrounding valley encompassing it.
It was a pretty morning. Things started cruising in the somewhat typical forest I’ve been seeing, but then I popped out to some interestingly different scenes..
Lots of frogs in this dammed up pond.
At second breakfast, I scarfed down some multigrain cinnamon frosted flakes that I’d found in the hiker box at the campground. I doubt it was because of that, but following this break, I started to feel the twinge in my stomach that was a warning sign things weren’t quite right inside there. The feeling lingered, so I stopped snacking like normal trying to let things simmer down some.
Sometimes as a hiker, I feel like this tree gobbling up everything around me in site.
After second breakfast, I started seeing southbound hikers, one after the other. I finally asked and was told a lot folks were slack packing back towards town. Ah, I thought, this made sense and was smart too since it seemed I just continued going up and up and up.
By the time lunch rolled around I felt alright, but I was still wary. There happened to be some trail magic, a cooler full of icy sodas. I couldn’t resist and opted for a crispy 7-up and also some barbecue Pringles.
The other factor to consider today was the heat. I felt I was drinking enough, but as the day went on and I started feeling worse and worse, I wondered if I was getting dehydrated too.
A little before 2:00 pm, I came across this sign for the Southern Cookie Lady 😊
I knew at this point, I shouldn’t be putting anything more down into my belly, but I went over to say hey to the cookie lady and get some water. She was super nice and is out here day after day meeting hikers and serving up tasty treats. Super nice. I was thankful for the cold water, but this is really where things started going downhill for me, figuratively that is.
As I continued hiking onward, I started to question whether I would be reaching my goal of about 26-miles for the day. My heart wanted to keep going, but my body not so much. Exactly the opposite of what Christina Aguilera expressed in her smash hit, “Genie In A Bottle…”
“Ooohhh, my body’s sayin’ let’s go
Ooohhh, but my heart is sayin’ no…”
Remember, I envisioned this being the start of my big push ahead. Yeah, well, by the time I reached the next shelter around 3:30 pm, there was no question about it. I wasn’t going any further today and in fact was slightly hunched over and hobbling up to the picnic table upon arrival. I collapsed onto it with my arms sprawled out and my head resting in the crook by my elbow.
There was another hiker there, but after explaining I wasn’t feeling great, we didn’t really talk. After several minutes, just about falling asleep, I roused myself to set up camp. The thought of laying down and being done for the day was the only thing motivating me to set up. I was happy there was a metal bear box where I could just throw my food inside rather than deal with hanging.
I’m not sure if I did nap or not, but it was just nice to lay and not think and rest. Eventually, I consumed all my water and had to walk down the the spring to refill. It was a good test. I was in much better condition already, but still weak and still with stomach cramping. So, it was right back into the tent for the rest of the night!
I guess for now at least my plans of bigger mileage are postponed 🤦.
“Hermione! When have any of our plans ever actually worked? We plan, we get there, all hell breaks loose!”
– Harry Potter in The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 Film (2011)
Better to listen to my body here, I think, not that I really had a choice. It’s yet one more reminder for me to be a little more go with the flow and let the trail tell me when it’s time to push and when it’s time to slow. All this sort of brought me back to the Everglades when I resonated with the rhythm of either having the tide going with me, helping me along, or alternately working against me. Some day I’ll get it right and just be all “Zen” and “in the moment” and “one with the trail and the universe.” Just got to keep listening to wise voices like Caamp, Roxette, Christina Aguilera, and Harry Potter, right? 😅
If you’ve been enjoying following along, and also want to help kids get access to the outdoors, please help me in supporting Outdoors Empowerment Network! I recently added the “Tip Author” button below that will directly link to my fundraising page. My goal is to raise $2 for every mile I hike on the ECT, so around $12,000! I need your help to reach this goal. In an earlier post titled, “The Outdoors Are For All” I share why I feel it’s so important. Thanks for the support!
Albums of the Day:
“Blue” (1999) & “Out of the Vein” (2003) – Third Eye Blind
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