Date: 2013-08-14
From: Stop Piazza Rock Lean-to

To:  Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: clear sky

209.7 miles remainingHiked 23.9 so far 2013 ATOld Goat notes:It rained yesterday afternoon and last evening as expected, I'm glad we were in a lean-to for the night. We love our tent but it is a little difficult getting into and out of in the rain. The lean-to gives us more room to cook and move around when it's raining. We awoke about 6:00am and prepared ourselves for the day by packing up and eating breakfast. Breakfast used to consist of eating Pop tarts. We are trying something new by eating sports bars which have whey protein in them. I think this will be more nutritious for us. We wash the bar down with Gatorade to boost our electrolytes and we're ready to go. We got an early start by hitting the trail at 7am sharp. We needed all the time we could get for this stretch as we were climbing and descending all day. We started climbing right away 2000ft in the first 4 miles to an elevation of 4120ft. It started gradual for about a mile and then it became very steep for the next 3miles. The mountain we climbed was called Saddleback it has a ski slope on part of the mountain but we didn't see it from where we were. We were up on the mountain for a short time and then down the other side we went. The trail was steep downhill too. We dropped to3500ft for a short time and then climbed another peak at 4032ft called The Hump. We again were up there for a short time and then started to descend. Part way down we found a spot where the wind was calm so we stopped and ate our lunch there. Did I mention it was cloudy, windy and cold on these mountains. We had one more mountain to climb Saddleback Junior at 3655ft, but wait, before we did that we had to drop back down to 3100ft. This decent was extremely hard because of the rocks that make up the trail. They are huge slanted rocks that drop about 8-10 ft. We have to find the nooks and crannies in the rock and climb down them, this is difficult to do. Saddleback Junior had its challenges too but by this time we were numb and just wanted to get done. We arrived at Poplar Ridge Lean-to just before 4pm which comes to about 1mile per hour. I think that is respectable considering the terrain.Check 6 notes:Old Goat described the tactical part of our hiking today, and covered it quite thoroughly. He missed the emotional parts...no surprise there. I tend to be the one to touch on that part of our hiking. Hiking up all 3 mountains was HARD, and got harder with each successive mountain. We were so happy to see this shelter and stop for the day! It has been COLD all day...with a constant wind blowing. We had to put our fleece jackets on to be warm enough on the mountains...first time we've had to do that since we started our attempted thru-hike in GA in 2009! We're in our sleeping bags to be warm now (7 pm)...another first since the beginning of our hike in 2009!With my balance issues, I have a real hard time going down steep terrain. I discovered something today that will help me get down the mountains that are ahead of us. I have to go down backwards (like climbing down a ladder...facing the mountain) on the real steep rocks and hills and hold onto roots, tree branches, and the rock crevices. I tried going down the "normal" way, but found I was literally TERRIFIED! When I turned around and went down backward the fear was gone! On slightly easier descents, I learned that I cannot look ahead. I have to focus just on where I will plant my feet and hiking poles. If I look ahead, and it's fairly steep, I feel as if I'm going to fall down the mountain head first. These two tactics helped tremendously today!!!What makes it even more frustrating is seeing Old Goat not having any trouble at all. I curse and cry when it's so hard for me and so easy for him. AARRGGHH!!A note of interest today. We are in the section where a female solo hiker disappeared a a couple weeks ago. There are posters everywhere, but no one is searching any more. A note in this shelter's register says she was seen here on July 22 and was supposed to meet her husband at the next main road but never arrived. I think about her often and wonder if she fell off some cliff or into a pond or something. What a sad time for her family.