Date: 2018-05-29
From: Niday Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel 
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: light rain

Oh Virginia! What are you doing to me?I had a great morning. It was overcast and a little drizzly, but I was able to use two pairs of sox and a plastic bag in my boot to keep the dampness at bay. I put bags in Cole¢s boots too, but it didn¢t seem to work for him. We started with a long up hill climb, but the rise was gentle and the run was long. I prefer this type of climb. It lasts longer but doesn¢t zap my strength like a short steep climb.Once at the top we had a long flat section along a ridge. It was very pretty in the mist. Then we went down, easily and gently just as we had gone up. Either I was flying along or else Cole was moseying, because I sat at the bottom of the hill for a while before he caught up to me. I had gone nine miles.Despite the dampness, I was feeling very optimistic and foolishly expected an afternoon much like my morning had been. Silly Sheila.We climbed again. Steeper. Rockier!!! We weren¢t just stepping on rocks, we were climbing up onto them. It was slower and more tiring. The rocks were wet so every step had to be carefully placed.When I reached Dragons Tooth I was really ready to be done, but was feeling like I had handled the day well. It was only 2.5 more miles down. Only. It was the hardest 2.5 Miles I have done yet on the AT. It wasn¢t hiking. It was rock climbing...well in this case descending. Imaging making a pile of flat stones. Now offset them a bit and tip them up on their side vertically. Got that? Good. Now, starting from the middle, walk across the slab horizontally. With a backpack on. There was a time when I was younger that this would have thrilled me. Tired and wet, I was unimpressed. And the rocks just kept coming and coming. My brain was tired from attending to my every step. I was grumpy. Cole kept smiling and commenting positively. My knees were dying.Eventually we did make it down and to a road. There was a tenting spot in the woods right across the road, or there was a hostel .3 up the road. The descent from dragon¢s tooth had bitten a chunk out of me...and apparently Cole too. His smile was gone and he was exhausted. His toes were hurting and he didn¢t want to walk the .3. He just wanted to collapse. I felt the same way. We assessed our water situation. We were almost out. There was a stream running along side the road, but one look at the colour of it turned us right off. It seemed we would be headed to the hostel.In the end we were both glad we had chosen to go. When we arrived there were a number of other hikers licking their dragon¢s tooth inflicted wounds.¢It was a hard day today wasn¢t it?¢ A German hiker commented to me. As odd as it seems, being around other people who had just gone through what I had and were feeling the same way about it, actually made me feel better. Sometimes I feel like I am out here doing so much more poorly than everyone else.We both had a shower, which helped to lift our spirits. There were hotdogs and freezies and delicious squares to eat. Once he was clean(ish) and fed, Cole day on the couch for a long time resting his feet.  A mattress under me and a huge fan blowing on me drowning out the hostel noise sure felt like an upgrade over our wet tent, and I didn¢t feel quite as beat up any more.