Date: 2016-03-21
From: Vango/Abby Memorial Hostel

To: Double Springs Shelter
Miles today: 44.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Yes... you read it right! 44.5 miles in one long day which surpassed my previous best day of 43. I left the Vango/Abby Memorial Hostel later that I had wanted to as the morning was VERY cold and I was hoping for it to warm up a bit. I ended up heading out around 10 am. The weather was still pretty cold out but I was warm enough once I started moving. I wore my gloves without lthe liners to keep my hands warm.The middle toe on my left foot was still infected and was of concern to me. Having been a medic in the national guard I knew it wasn't life threatening but with poor circulation to the toes if the infection took off it could mean the loss of a toe within a few hours. I didn't think it was a high probability but more of a possibility. Either way getting to a doctor and getting it looked at and some antibiotics were definitely a HIGH priority! Throughout the day I kept taking a mental inventory of how I was feeling and of the hiking plan to reach Damascus ASAP.My first goal was to reach the Lake Watauga Shelter which would have been a good day of 22 miles or so and then reassess. That would give me a shot at reaching Damascus in 3 days. I was also looking on the map for road crossings where I could bail off the trail and hitch a ride in an emergency if my toe made a drastic turn towards the worst.I reached the shelter in good time and was feeling pretty good so I decided to push on and see how far I could go. As the sun went down a chill settled in but as long as I kept moving I was warm enough. I stopped to get a drink of water and the cold night immediately reached out and grabbed me. I finished my drink and started moving again. That was the last time of the night I stopped for anything... I just drank on the move if I got thirsty or ate on the move.It was already pretty dark out as I was passing by the dam and I put on my headlight and turned it on. My biggest fear was losing the trail in the dark and wasting time and miles getting lost. As I crossed the dam road and turned left to go up a road I was a little concerned as I hadn't seen a white blaze for a while even though I had continuously been scanning the sides of the road for one. I turned around to look for one going the other direction and was able to find one so I kept going up the road. A shot while later I found another blaze and was able to relax a little. Finally I reached the point where the trail left the road and headed into the woods. I prefer hiking in the woods at night as it's easier to see the trail in the dark. Sometimes when the trail crosses a road or follows a road for a while it's easy to miss a turn and get lost.After the climb on the road and the turn into the woods the trail continued to climb. The sky was clear and many stars could be seen in the sky. Once up on the ridge that ran along the river/lake/water I could see the lights on the other side. As I hiked listening to music I made a point of not looking at the time or where I was at as far as milage and just kept going. I passed a few shelters with sleeping hikers in them along with a number of tents at camp sites along the way. As the sun was starting to get ready to come up I decided to pull out my phone and try to figure out where I was... I realized very quickly that I was in a state of confusion from being very tired sleepy wise and very exhausted at the same time. My feet were aching despite the ibuprofen (taken with food of course). I had a couple of miles to go to reach Double Springs Shelter which would make a 44.5 mile day... 1.5 miles more than my previous best of 43. Any pipe dreams of making it to the next shelter and a 50+ mile day were gone. I would be happy to get to double springs and call it a day.The last mile seemed to take forever. I felt like I was walking through quicksand and walking drunk at the same time. Mentally and physically I had really exceeded my limits and pushed about as hard as I could have. I reached the shelter around 6 and was pretty happy with my 44.5 miles in 21 hours. I recalled that my 43 mile day had taken 23.5 hours so I considered my more miles in 2.5 fewer hours a double win.At the shelter I got really cold really fast and struggled to get my sleeping pad blown up and into my sleeping bag. I was shivering on top of my physical and mental exhaustion. I knew I needed to get in my bag ASAP. After zipping up my bag and cinching up the bag around my head I pretty much passed out.