Date: 2009-03-18
From: Unicoi Gap

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 5.6
Weather: broken clouds

Cell Phone GoodOG Notes: We woke up this morning in a comfortable queen size bed, man we were roughing it. We were served a wonderful breakfast of waffles, eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, and coffee. Again thank you Sue, Sharon, Carey, and Neal.We hit the trail at 10:40 am this morning with an immediate climb of Rocky Mountain it was a 1000 verticle feet gain in elevation within the first 2 miles. We no sooner reached the top and gave 900 feet of our gain back, only to hit the bottom and start a new 1300 foot climb up Tray Mountain for the next 3 miles. Needless to say we decided a 6 mile day like this was enough. We seem to be going a lot more steady pace now we hiked 6 miles of hill climbing and still averaged 1.5 miles per hour, wahoo we're real speed demons.Sue had some shoulder pain today that we think was caused by her gear. The thing that I'm feeling best about is our legs aren't hurting like they did the first few days. I'm assuming our legs are getting stronger now. It was difficult to stop at 2:40 pm as there is so much more daylight. But by stopping and letting our bodies rest we feel we'll get stronger. If we were to move on to the next shelter we would have to hike another 7.5 miles to get there. Something I learned in 2006 is not to take on too much too soon. We need to stay in our comfort zone, and stay healthy. Once we push too far we increase our chances of an injury.Life is good here on the trail. We're both still smiling. As my friend Posey says "It's about the smiles, not the miles".C6 Notes - After a wonderful breakfast with Neal and his family, they took us back to Unicoi Gap. I can't rave enough about their kindness, caring, and generosity. The company was fabulous, and the food terrific! I can't thank you enough, Sue, Sharon, Neal, and Carey!The hike to Tray Mtn Shelter was very hard for me today. I didn't distribute the weight in my pack correctly, so too much weight was high, making the pack constantly pull on my shoulders. I was in pain almost the whole time we were hiking. It was so painful at one time that I felt as if I was close to throwing up. Women's packs should be packed with the heaviest things as low as possible so our hips are supporting most of the weight. Thinking about it all the way up here made me decide to put a couple things in different places. I'll try it tomorrow.Aidin (Red Leg) signed in the shelter log that he stopped here for lunch today, but then moved on. He also said it was a hard climb for him. I'm glad to see it wasn't just me having a hard time with the climb. It felt as if all we did for the whole time was climb up steep hills. It's discouraging to go so slow and feel you're taking so long to get anywhere.We set up our tent early and are resting. No one else is here yet. It's sunny and comfortable - a nice time to rest.I haven't written about my feet yet because I didn't want to jinx myself. I've been amazed that I've been having very little problems with my feet! One small blister that I put a Blist-O-Ban thing on and haven't had any problems since. I haven't taken the tape off yet (it looks somewhat like a bandaid, but has a bubble thing in the middle of it). That's on my right foot little toe. The only other problem I'm having is with the 4th toe on my left foot. That toe hurt quite a bit for the first day and a half, then stopped hurting completely. The toenail will come off soon I think. It looks awful, but doesn't hurt at all.I don't remember if I explained how Aidin got the name "Red Leg." He explained that the Army Mess Dress for Artillery Officers have a red stripe down the legs. Army Mess Dress uniforms are colorful - with different divisions/battalions have different colors (usually on the jacket I thought).Something I forgot to write about yesterday...before we left Low Gap Shelter, a guy came over to us with a bright green hat and tie on and said he and some friends were there to do trail magic for St Patrick's Day. What they had to offer was a beer to start our day. We declined, but had a nice conversation with him. He is "One Too Many," from hiking the AT either last year or the year before (I don' remember which). He said a few friends were going to join him that evening - one of them being "Leprechaun," who OG met during his 2006 hike (when Leprechaun hiked it, too).Old Goat & Check Six