Day ??? – Take 2

After sleeping for about 24 hours straight, I don’t know what day it is, nor do I care

Talking with Wing-It over dinner, he assures us that we can’t be worrying about miles yet. He said don’t even worry about hitting Damascus by Trail Days or Harper’s Ferry by 4th of July, both “indicators” of being “on time” on the trail toward Katahdin. He says your legs will come and you’ll be making up time when it feels right, plus to continue taking time enjoying the stays along the way. Apparently it’s rather common for Thruhikers to skip sections or take alternative routes especially if there’s blowdowns, trail closures, or “better” alt routes. Even just to catch up with a tramily, people may skip whole sections of a state in order to keep moral up and keep going.

I’m not a white blaze purist by any means, I know the trail changes every year and historically has varied by hundreds of miles! The most important thing seems to be Georgia to Maine (for me going NOBO, people who hike SOBO or flip flop or section over years are still hiking the AT!!), and to keep going when you feel stuck. So when Wing-It told us about “aqua blazing” part of the Shenandoahs (river raft camping) I thought it sounded awesome.

For some people, it’s all about foot power, and they will reject shuttle rides, boat rides, bike rides, etc just to keep moving north on their own two feet. Those hikers probably wouldn’t approve of my slack packing, but they may approve of road walking if the trail is too dangerous or just not favorable on a given day.

While I’m not a purist, and I do think experiencing the trail includes towns, hostels, blue blazes, yellow blazes, and generally just getting tastes of every state along the way, I apparently don’t love switching directions on the trail just to get miles. I still think Slackpacking was a good decision for my foot and leg health, but the feeling of hiking south past all the NOBO’s I knew felt off.

This re-do, however, will not be related to my SOBO slackpack, or even due to the fact that I was rolled down the last couple miles to Fontana Dam. Those miles still count in my book, and were some of the most fun because I had so much company on the trail!

I’m re-doing the section from Stechoa Gap to Fontana because I don’t want to start the Smokies alone, and Frickles is starting back up on that section. So to have company, take it slow, and play it safer and smarter, I’ll be hiking with her the next few days and into the Smokies.

Sweet Goodbyes

The owners of Gorgeous Stays feel like family now, and so does Wing-It, who is road tripping the AT, staying at hostels, and doing trail magic. He gifted me his headlamp that he summited with on his Thruhike since mine seems to have been lost on my rescue down the mountain.

Scott and Wendi offered me 2 new trail names if I felt like updating mine:  Rebound or Take 2. I like Take 2 because it sounds similar to To-Go. I will definitely think about it, because at this point it feels even more accurate to my experience on the trail and I love the idea of being named by the hostel I’ve spent so much time at. I’ve really loved being To-Go, but maybe I can have a secondary trail name of Take 2 if I want to share my rescue story. 😆 It’s definitely a name that reminds me to keep going and try again even if things aren’t going according to plan.

On the Trail Again

Frickles and I took our morning slow, and started our hike later in the day. I’m still struggling with food (not nauseous or throwing up or any other sickness symptoms anymore, just having to convince myself I’ll be ok to eat and won’t throw up), so I had ice cream for breakfast. Calories is calories.

We hiked our 9 miles today slowly and deliberately, taking many breaks as needed, and I tried to make myself eat a mountain house meal for lunch to get real protein and calories in, but I could only take a few bites at a time, so I did what I do best and took it to-go.

I ended up walking with that bag of mountain house for about 6 miles, taking little bites when I could, all the way to our shelter for the night.

We hadn’t seen many people on the trail during our hike, so we were surprised to see a full campsite when we arrived! There was still room for us, but this was only the second time in my hike I’ve seen so many people in one place out in the woods. It was a warm welcome when I saw some familiar faces like Fancy Pants, Wrong Way, and Shadow. I had been ahead of them by a couple of days, but now we are all “caught up”!

We also re-met Carli, a hiker who I first met at Above the Clouds hostel. The trail is funny like that. Think you’ll never see someone again and there they are weeks later at the same campsite.

I had a protein bar for dinner, hoping I would be hungrier in the morning for a real breakfast. We did our bear hangs, I washed and treated my feet for the night, got some stretches in, and went to bed! After a few nights of weird hours and watching videos endlessly on my phone to pass time while I rested, it feels good to be back where there’s a solid routine and no aimlessness between “getting ready for bed” and “time for sleep”. It’s dark, it’s quiet (except for Frickles’ air mattress crinkling 8ft away 😆), everyone is in bed, and it’s time to relax.

Ok I may have brought my mystery novel to read before bed, but I’m only going to read about 3 pages before I start dozing off in this luxuriously comfortable hammock I’m in…. (@Kammock, do you want to sponsor me yet? I talk you up to everyone I meet 😆)

Hooray for another recovery day on trail going well and a pleasant evening with no rain at camp. Tomorrow night we are back “in town” at Fontana Dam, which is actually very needed already because my 15 year old backpack I’ve been using the last 3 week finally bust a seam at the hip belt and today it rode almost entirely on my shoulders. I’m hoping to find a new backpack tomorrow that will take me the rest of the journey.

Bonus picture: spring is springing! Some trees are starting to bud and some flowers are starting to bloom!

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