Date: 2014-05-07
From: Rich Mountain Lookout Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We hit the 300 mile today and it was well earned. The weather has been unseasonably warm and we are getting clear blue sky and temperatures in the mid 80's with little to no breeze. This also leads to the springs drying up and water being a little more scarce but it's all part of the adventure and you have to roll with the punches.   Staying up until 11:30 is now too late for me these days and I woke up feeling real tired, writing these journals is starting to effect my day job. Everyone was up at the same time and had similar plans. There were tank shelters and a campsite so it was either a 12,15 or 18 miles day, everyone was thinking big but would assess the plan when we got to the first shelter to have some lunch. I ate the two big honeybuns from 7-11 that add up to about 1,300 calories soju was telling up to the task.    I hiked out with Delaware and we had a good pace going. Along the way there was this sketchy hand pained sign nailed to a tree along the trail that said 'Mom's Store' and had an arrow pointed on it. In the real world, I would have stayed as far as I can from the place but out here we had to check it out. Mom seemed like a nice middle aged church going lady. Mom's store was the complete opposite, it seemed like she busted open a foreclosed store, bought a whole bunch if bulk items and jacked the price up 50%. It's an apparent winning formula as there was a decent amount of thru hikers there. I splurged and bought a Yoohoo while Delaware bought a hot pocket and ice cream, a thru hiker diet is quite unique. Delaware somehow got some beer so yet again another day of having a beer before noon, somehow I'm getting unhealthier out here the longer I hike.   We got to the first shelter and hid in the shade of the shelter, it was hot out and I was sweating from places I didn't even know I could sweat. I have a lot of food and my bag weighs about 38 pounds so I'm eating as much as I fans whenever I can and had some tuna on tortilla with cheese and jerky plus a few granola bars and I was feeling pretty golden. We lounged around the shelter for awhile taking a siesta hoping it would cool off and when we finally accepted the fact that it wasn't, we begrudgingly set off.   Right from the start it was brutal, a 5 mile climb up the mountain with very few switchbacks, it sucked. It took a lite bit but we did it and the remainder of the hike didn't let up and it was hurting us. The A.T makes a lot of unnecessary twists and turns and ups and downs which can get annoying at times and this was one of those times. Then the cherry on top a 1.5 mile rock scramble up and down a ridge line which crushed us. It was getting late and weren't going to get into camp around 6:30. We toughed it out and didn't bail on the plan and made it to the shelter.   Tim and James were there but were going to do some night hiking tonight. There's a half moon that's giving off a lot of light so it's not too bad to hike in. Next week is a full moon and it the skies are clear, I'm going to do a night or two. According to the journal, Yogi was way ahead, it'll probably be while until I see him and the rest of the gang was behind us. After cooking some dinner and having a few cups of hot chocolate everything seemed right again, despite a hard day we made the best of it and proud we didn't give up. The weather is supposed to be hot for the rest of the week so it'll be early starts and hopefully early finishes. Tomorrow we're doing an easy day of 13 miles but it's a lot of ups and downs which isn't fun but the whole trip isn't all fun and games. We make the best of it and in the end we always have a smile on our faces and looking forward for the next day.