Date: 2014-04-11
From: locust cove gap

To: cable gap shelter 
Miles today: 12.4

Friday, April 11: Day 13 Mountain trail beauty & Exhaustion on the trailWhen I woke up at 8 the fellow camper had already left. I tried to eat as much trail mix and cliff bar as I could to lighten my load but not enough. Added 2L of water for the journey to make my pack even heavier. Today is going to be tough. One of the worst uphill climbs of the AT (Jacob's Ladder) and my heaviest pack so far! Not eating dinner last night really hurt me. Never again!As I climbed up the mountain side with what felt like a ton of weight I traversed the mountain tops. One of the first climbs this morning went almost 1000 feet straight up. No switchbacks, no curves just a giant mountain side to scale. While I was hiking the Jacob's ladder, I rediscovered a hiking technique. Part skiing, part handicapped learning to walk. I used my two poles to pull myself up the mtn one step at a time. Put poles in front of me. Lean weight forward. Take two steps. Repeat a thousand times. Finally took the mountain. Only 5 more to go today. Around mile 5, the runner boys show up. Shooting along at light speed asking where I'm trying to get to today. "the shelter or maybe Fontana, depending on how I feel." "Same." they said.As I continue to hike we hit gorgeous views. Views where you're at the absolute peak of the mountain and am walking on the knife's edge. Beauty on one side and beauty on the other. A great view. A least that raised my spirits for a bit in between the grind. I keep thinking I should have split up my meals. 4 to Gatlinburg. 5 to get out of the Smokies. Next time that's the safe bet. But right now I'm stuck with food and miles to go. Around 1-3pm is the hottest part of the day. Really feeling the heat and kinda nauseated and lightheaded. Think I'm pushing myself to hard without food. I stop for 15 minutes or so and snack on trail mix and water. Go for a couple miles. Still feeling it. Stop again for longer and have summer sausage, Nutella, trail mix, and more water. Go on. Still feeling it. Sit and rest at a top of a grass hill and rest in the sun. Today's the worst day on the trail so far. To much weight, nauseated, exhausted, and just not feeling it. But I push on past a shelter that's deserted at 1 and push into camp around 4:30. The runners are already there. And a couple others. Some good. Some spots are available and I grab one near a tiny spring. Yes, the days over. Now to eat my pack weight down. I have two of the heavier dinners and tuna and force myself to eat more trail mix. Ugh. So full but my back and legs will thank me tomorrow. The runners start a fire and actually have walked with an axe for 150 miles. We back up some dead stumps and gather kindling to keep the fire going. It's nice and warm. And always better than tv. In conversation I drop that I've been thinking about an AT tattoo on the bottom of my foot if I finish (because they are my initials). And Chris jumps in about tattooing his initials on my foot too. I have no idea if I'll get that tattoo but I have 5 months to think about it.The fire dies down and people head to their tents. A short 7 mile day tomorrow into Fontana Dam, the town right before the Smokies. I hope to eat some more food tomorrow morning to keep the weight to a minimum. Hopefully the extra energy from all those dinners will raise my spirits and propel me into the Smokies on the right foot. Bedtime 9:30