Date: 2015-04-18
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 25.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was so long but ended up being awesome. I started out to a gorgeous sunset. The morning miles went by quickly, and as I descended in elevation the beautiful scent of spring flowers filled the air. I passed the GSMNP boundary a few hours after setting out, and a couple of miles later had enough service to text home and let my parents know I am still alive. It was a GORGEOUS day, full of green surroundings and bursting streams. I also saw a huge snake.I started getting hot and tired around 11:30. I ate a peanut-buttery lunch next to a stream, tied my bandana around my head to keep the sweat out of my eyes, and continued uphill. I passed a guy smoking, who introduced himself as Fancy Pants (his pants seemed normal to me, but he did have a cool bandana). He encouraged me that passi g hikers had informed him that we were only 1.23 miles (this was oddly specific) from the summit.There was a really nice grassy stretch of trail at the top of the mountain, and a strange FAA tower. I took a picture of it and continued on, greeting two passing hunters and then two hikers who had stopped for lunch. They told me to expect rain the next few days. MORE FREAKING RAIN. Will it never end?!Then I got to enjoy a nice, easy descent, reaching Groundhog Creek Shelter around 1:30. I decided that it was too early to stop for the day. Especially since Sparrow, who stopped by the shelter last night, was loitering nearby. Last night, instead of asking my name, he rudely asked Miles, who I was standing RIGHT NEXT TO, "Who's that girl? I haven't seen her. What's her name?" Ad I passed today he yelled, "Hey, weren't you at that shelter last night? With Miles? Where is he?" Annoyed, I yelled back as I hiked past, "I have no idea.I thinkmhe stayed at that hostel." How the heck was I supposed to know where Miles was?!So I continued uphill, only slightly regretful to continue instead of resting. I ascended slowly, again annoyed when Sparrow came up behind me, headphones blaring. I could have stayed at that shelter after all. I was tired and figured that I could tent at Brown Gap in three miles, as there was a water source there. When I arrived, exhausted, found that it really didn't look like a good place to stop. Two hikers sitting at the gap looked at me and asked, "Are you thru-hiking? There's trail magic at Max Patch. They have beer!" "And chicken breasts, lots of good stuff." "And beer, and pot!""Everyone has pot!" I replied, laughing. This, of course, isn't true, but it is extremely popular on the trail. I thanked them and groaned as I saw that the trail was heading uphill.The human body can do some amazing things. I was hot, tired, exhausted, low on water, and feeli g dehydrated. I was also starving, and my food bag was nearly empty. The Max Patch summit was 3.5 miles north. I had already hiked twenty miles. 3.5 more would take me another hour and a half or so. BUT NOW I WAS MOTIVATED. Hoping they wouldn't have packed up early, I crawled uphill like a snail. As soon as the trail flattened out, I booked it. I hiked as if a bear was chasing me, imagining real, delicious food in my hands (and tummy). I was so tired but so hungry that I actually RAN at one point. I didn't care that Sparrow was ahead of me and kept looking back. I didn't care that I had to go uphill, that my feet hurt, that my water bottle was almost empty. I just wanted real food.It took forever to get there, but it was an amazing picnic, put on by a group of thru-hikers who completed the trail last year. I arrived, more tired, dirty, and smelly than I have probably ever been in my life, and told them how incredibly grateful I was. There were hot dogs, chips, soda, chocolate bars... APPLES and GRILLED PEPPERS. A dream come true. I filled my tummy, and, encouraged by the hosts, took some extra snacks for my food bag, most of which are unhealthy. I also took a bagel with cream cheese, which I can eat for breakfast tomorrow. The picnic made me so happy that I was only a little mad when Sparrow arrived and called me Red Baron (seriously? BARON?!).They invited me to set up my tent and stay, as they would be making breakfast in the morning. I was so tired, though, and hate the idea of packing up my tent in the rain, that I decided to continue to the next shelter, only about a mile away. After five or six nights of full, loud shelters, I have been craving calm and quiet, not a drunken party night.I filled up my water bottles, cleaned up, and have been rehydrating. I hope the rain tomorrow will be slow and light. I hope to make it to the shelter 15 miles north so I can take a nearo (near zero mile) day in Hot Springs Monday.There are like four German guys at this shelter tonight. There are a LOT of Germans on the trail. Apparently a documentary about the AT was released there, so now tons of Germans want to hike the trail. I even met Bionic Woman in the Smokies. She is hiking with a prosthetic leg and a sponsorship from Adidas.I am thankful for trail magic, fresh fruit, and my resilient body. ESPECIALLY for the picnic angels today who were so gracious to pay it forward, doing for me and others what so many did for them last year.