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- Hiked Today: 21.2 miles
- Appalachian Trail (218.5 – 239.7)
- Total Hiked: 2,164.2 miles
- Total Paddled: 99.5 miles
Weather: 38 – 65°F, light rain and cold until 1:30 am, sun and clouds after that, blustery all day
Elevation: 1,995 – 6,320 feet
Peck’s Corner Shelter to Spot North of Davenport Gap
Today was not my day.
Last night, quite soon after dinner, I became aware that my stomach didn’t feel great. That culminated in a 2:00 am panicky unzip of the tent, quick lurch maneuver, and immediate throw up. Ugh. Yeah… really ugh. Following this unsightly behavior, I felt a little better, but truthfully, another night of not enough quality sleep.
I turned off my alarm to try and sleep more, but only managed to lay there til around 7:00 am. It was lightly raining as I packed up. There were a number of things working against me today…
- Some sleep deprivation.
- Still feeling slightly “off.”
- Lack of energy and weakness from not eating (because of feeling slightly “off)
- A heavy pack.
- Very cold temperatures with rain and super winds.
- My poison ivy rash is lingering (ok, this really isn’t that bad, I’m just venting here haha)
- Lack of motivation and negative headspace resulting from all the above.
It was a trudge until about 1:30 pm. That’s when I finally got warmth back into my hands. Before that, I was struggling to do basic things like tie my shoes and put my earbuds in because I had such little dexterity in my fingers.
Post – 1:30 pm, I felt better and things started looking up. I got some food down. Then, after 2:30 pm -ish, it was mostly downhill. Plus, the sun came out and warmed body and soul. Although I try not to let the weather out here dictate my attitude, it’s pretty clear that it often does.
Despite all the challenges today, I managed to reach my goal of getting outside the park. Sumi and I made it through the Smokies! I’d hoped to get to Standing Bear Hostel, but at the end of the day knew I wasn’t feeling social and it would’ve meant pushing to get another two miles, so sadly I’ll miss out on that experience. Next AT thru-hike I guess 😅
Here’s today’s pics and vids…
My first and only salamander of the Smokies! I had hoped to find a bunch, but guess the colder weather had them hiding. This little dude was neat though.
Thanks to the trail workers! Lots of trees down here and in dramatic fashion with huge root systems tipped over.
Burger Man passed me near this nice viewpoint. He was pretty much running down the trail.
Yep, broken. It was at a random spot too in soft leaf-covered dirt and I wasn’t able to find the missing point. I plan to check with Leki about a warranty so we’ll see
I made it just outside of the National Park and found the next available spot to camp.
Solo tenting tonight. I think I fell asleep around 8:00 pm I was so beat.
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Album of the Day:
“9 To 5 And Odd Jobs” (1980) by Dolly Parton
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