Date: 2003-07-02
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Terrapin Station Hostel
Miles today: 23.0

Didn¢t sleep well again last night. It took me a little while to fall asleep, then once I did the mice came out and started bugging me and on top of that, Squeeze was snoring extremely loud. I could feel it through the floor. I woke up at 6 am and could have kept sleeping but I wanted to get an early start because I wanted to try and get to the hostel today. I left the shelter at 8:00 with Martin and stayed with him for maybe 3 quarters of a mile before he pulled ahead. My first goal was to get to Elkwallow Gap, which was 7 miles away, and have lunch at the restaurant. I made it there just after 11:00. Martin and Geo were still there so we all sat together and ate. Elkwallow wasn¢t at all like I expected. It was just a little food counter inside the gift shop and you had to sit outside and eat which would have been fine if it wasn¢t raining.   Rain ¢ all day it rained. So while we were sitting under an overhang eating (I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with fries and a soda) we talked about the weather and what the trail was going to be like and how it¢s supposed to rain 2 inches per hour, yikes! , We eventually headed back out into the RAIN with the hostel looking better and better in my mind with each step. Since the weather was so bad we all decided to take to the road for some easier walking. According to Geo, the original path of the AT followed the road so technically we were still legal. I could care less either way. I figure it makes no difference seeing as how the road can be seen from the trail and you practically walk right next to the road anyway. There was hardly any traffic today so we pretty much had the road to ourselves. Couldn¢t see any of the views, though, since we were in the clouds all day. It cooled off quite a bit also. I did 23 miles and the only time I ever stopped was when I had lunch after mile 7. The walking went pretty smoothly but my knee started hurting with about 6 miles left to go and my blister is now a little worse. The last 3 miles were tough only because my feet and knee hurt so much. I was so glad to finally get here. The hostel is run out the basement of this guy¢s house and is a pretty nice set up. For $13 you get a bed, laundry, shower and shuttle to town in the morning. I was so tired I didn¢t want to move once I was here. But now I¢m clean (its only been 8 days since my last shower or laundry) and I feel sooo much better. I made a Mountain House beef stroganoff for dinner but it didn¢t taste good at all so I made some hot dogs and had Ben and Jerry¢s Fish Food ice cream for dessert. I can¢t believe I just did 23 miles! My biggest day yet and I doubt I¢ll ever do that many again, it is just too painful. Right now my feet are throbbing and feel like they¢ve been beat with a sledge hammer. When I have to get up to walk I hobble. Yep, I don¢t want to do that again but on the other hand, I¢m very proud of myself. Oh yeah, I saw 2 bears this morning. The first one I saw about a mile or two from the shelter and the second I saw about a half mile before Elkwallow. I hope I don¢t see any more. Well, since I can barely keep my eyes open, I¢m off to bed.