Date: 2014-09-05
From: Port Clinton, PA

To: 501 shelter
Miles today: 24.1
Weather: broken clouds

Knowing that today's goal was ambitious for me I set an alarm. Not something I normally do. In order to have even a chance of making it though I needed an early start. The fellas had been doing less miles than they really wanted to in part for me, something I really appreciated. Today though was my turn to push hard and do big miles to keep up with them. The goal was the 501 shelter where you can have pizza delivered to the shelter because it is so close to a road. The promise of hot, cheesy pizza can be a huge motivating factor for hikers. I was hiking out of town a little after 7am. Although this stretch looks unintimidating on the topo map it was nonetheless challenging for me. The initial climb out of town was fairly steep and had me sweating almost immediately. The normal Pennsylvania rocks were present once up on the ridge. What really got me shaking my head though was the fact that I had just resupplied. It is one thing to attempt my biggest day ever with a light food bag. With five days of food adding an extra 10 pounds to my pack it is another thing entirely. I needed to move at a rapid pace all day and limit how long my breaks last. And man do I love to take breaks!Each time I would catch up to the guys they would be just getting done with a break. I would drop my pack, sit down, stuff my face, check my water levels and then get going again. Latin, Chicken Fat, Knives and Unplugged constantly gave me words of encouragement each time I saw them. I didn't honestly think that I would be able to make it that far and had a contingency plan of stopping at a campsite a few miles shy of the shelter. Having someone telling me throughout the day that I could do it, that I was strong enough, that they believed in me was awesome. Surrounded by such positivity helped me stay motivated and moving. Whenever I felt like quitting and giving up I would stumble upon the guys and their kind and optimistic words would lift my spirits. The last couple of miles were pretty miserable. After the sun went down I broke out my headlamp. I was so tired and just over it. I don't know how I found the strength to keep going. Finally, at 8:30pm I stumbled into the shelter completely exhausted. Cheers went up all around from the guys. If I hadn't been so wiped I might have cried, but the energy to produce tears had been burned up miles ago.Knives and Unplugged, those blessed boys, assumed I would make it and had already ordered enough pizza for all of us. They are so thoughtful and considerate. While waiting for the yumminess to arrive I set up my bunk and took a shower. This shelter has an outdoor shower. Good thing because I sweated sooo much today and really wanted to rinse the salt off my body. Although the water was cold, it was one of the best showers I have had in a long time. As the salt, dirt and grime washed off me so did my stress and anxiety about not being able to do so many miles. By the time the shower was done I was all smiles again. Then I inhaled pizza until my hunger was satiated. As I climbed into my bunk that night I was super pumped despite my aching body. I had just hiked my biggest day ever with a full pack and resupply. A huge accomplishment for me. The guys had all said how proud they were of me. More importantly though, I was proud of myself.