Date: 2006-05-29
From: creekside camping

To: after cawtaba road shelter
Miles today: 17.0

This goes on record as the worst day ever! And Sleeper had the worst day of all of us. I left camp this morning and it was hot Sleeper was still packing up and i figured he would be a couple hours behind me. Single malt was slack packing and spent some time with me as we hiked up up up.... over Dragons tooth, i kept calling devils claw. There were tons of peaks, rock, day hiking nancies, and hot sun. There was metal steps built into the side of rocks so you could climb down. Sometime i would have to slide on my butt to get down. Did i mention how hot it was? Sweat pours off of you, and you feel like you can not drink enough. Everyone ran out of water. When we got down to a road 42 told me there was a store .4 miles up the road. So i went with her and lush and cold turkey. When we got there merlin was there too. I thought it was going to be a quick stop. But the a/c was amazing, and there was buckets for us to sit on in the back. What a relief after being out of water for most of the morning. Sleeper didn't show up after a while, and since i didn't have my book i asked merlin how he knew there was a store, he said his book. 42 and merlin carry the wingfoot guide. Sleeper has the data book. It was then that i realized it might not be in the data book that there is store here. I felt really bad so i bought him his favorite drink and snack. And we headed back to the trail. I didn't think we were going to be there that long, and i figured sleeper must have pasted us already. The next two water sources were awful! through cow fields and one was dark brown! Man this sucks, i ran out of water again! It was a hot climb up a hill in the sun with no cover! I had sleepers drink but i refused to drink it, i wanted him to have it. Lush let me have some of his water, it was a real struggle to get to the shelter. I started to get some blisters on my heel. I was tired and hot and the 1st shelter after the road had no water we had to go to the next one. When we got to the first one sleeper was there! I was so excited i had his drink but he was not so excited. I guess since i was one of the last people to get there, everyone else told him we went to the store. He didn't know about the store and he was so mad at me for not telling him. At first i got mad at him for not being happy i got him the drink and hiked it in and didn't drink it even though i ran out of water. But after i had some time to think about it i realized he was right too. If it was the other way around i would be hurt too. He said this trail sucks and he is getting off in Daleville. I felt really bad. I felt like i could have made his day not as bad if i just left a note. But i really didn't know it was not in his book about the store. I think once he realized this, and i saw his point it helped. Plus i pointed out that no one else hiked him in anything so i was thinking of him, and i did feel bad. Needless to say it made a really hard and shitty day even worse. I think he is ok now. I mentioned hiking back the 2 miles to town tomorrow and taking a day off. We can come do these 19 miles on a slack pack. It will be easier, a day off will make him feel better. I hope he agrees with me and says yes. I can only hope tomorrow is a better day! He said he is done and getting off the trail, and we need to go to town to help him! i hate crying!