Date: 2019-04-02
From: Plumorchard Gap Shelter

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter 
Miles today: 7.3

Today had a lot of highs and lows, but overall was a bit of a mental struggle. I knew I¢d have that on the trail, but I am still battling with it everyday. I really psych myself out and get into my head. I start to worry about the mileage of the day, my plans for the next few weeks, the weather, the amount of people, bear-bagging, going to the bathroom, getting water and filtering it, etc. It is a challenge for sure to take all of that and center my brain onto the main thing happening. I heard listening to podcasts and zoning out might help me. Right now I listen to music, but it¢s still background noise to my thoughts.I have to consistently work on calming my head. My body really is good. I definitely have blisters on my feet and some soreness, but overall I feel like I can handle a lot of mileage physically. Unfortunately, my pack is quite heavy with food still. I am just not eating enough at all. Tonight when I was hanging my bear bag with some fellow hikers, they all said my bag was really heavy. The problem is that my Mountain House meals involve water, so when I don¢t finish them, the trash is heavier, and I have to hold onto that until I can throw it away responsibly. And I have a ton of peanut butter. I normally like peanut butter a lot, but I really am just not hungry. It amazes me. At home I could have several helpings of dinner and have a big appetite, but on the trail I have no appetite. I need the food and the water for energy, and I have been forcing myself to eat it, but I really am not hungry. I can tell the weight of the food is weighing me down. I need to eat or give some away. Trail hunger, please come! I want to eat all of this! Anyway, I headed out late because I was cold again. Getting up and moving when it¢s cold like that is tough. I was so happy as I left my shelter because I ran into Colt!! Ahh! Colt was from my first shelter so he really feels like part of my original ¢tramily¢. He was so excited to see me too. He¢s been injured and slack-packing a bit. We chatted for about 30 minutes. I just wrote about feeling lonely and now I had one of my first buds on the trail show up. I was so happy. He¢s got an interesting trail name now... Ball¢s Out. There¢s a story there... haha. As we were talking, Eric from Litchfield County, CT showed up. Another person from my first day! It was awesome! Eric¢s trail name is Two Fingers. These boys I swear. Another story there lol. I¢m keeping it clean with Little Debbie. For now. It actually fits me well since I love to bake and make sweets for people back home and I really did take a ton of pastries from the hotel. Haha. They all hiked on ahead. My pack felt heavy and I felt cold and mentally wiped, although I was so happy to have seen them. I continued on, stopping a few times to recharge, get water, and chat. I originally planned to go to Standing Indian Shelter today, but it would¢ve been another climb and it would¢ve been cold. And all the people I was running into said they were going to Muskrat Creek Shelter and I was craving company to get my head on straight. A few miles into the day, I arrived at the Georgia/North Carolina border. Colt was there. It was not very exciting; just a sign on a tree. But it felt so good. That was the first goal I had set that would make me feel accomplished. I wanted to cross that border and knock out a state. Today I did it! Yay! Colt took my picture for me and we remarked on how he had taken my picture at Springer on the first day. I took off some layers, as I was sweating a bunch already, but my sweat made me colder, so I ended up putting my layers back on. North Carolina brought some heat. And not the temperature. Almost immediately after crossing the border, there were two steep mountains that seemed to go on forever. After skirting the summit of the first with no view, I was so wiped and annoyed. Thanks for the welcome, North Carolina! Haha. Some welcome. Right after that I saw another huge mountain in front of me. Maybe the trail will dive off to the side and miss it, I thought. Nope. The trail went right up it! I do have the AT Guide, AWOL¢s book, with me, and it mentions the mountains and elevation, but I think it would drive my mind more crazy to know every single elevation. Maybe not. Maybe it would help. When I plotted out my mileage, I didn¢t really take the elevation into account unless I knew it would be tough, like the Whites or the Smokies. I should look at it more. Those climbs today were insane! And both skirted the summit with no view! Lame! The second mountain did have a little lookout point that I stopped at, but the views would¢ve been incredible if the top of the mountain offered that 360 look. The lookout was nice, but it didn¢t show all of the scenes around me. I came down from the second one and was mentally done. I needed to get to the shelter. I found someone else paused for a break and he said the shelter was a half-mile away. I was excited for that, but it was uphill mostly until the shelter. I got way into my head and started to cry again. I rested my head on my trekking poles and just let it out. I had had such success today and I was proud of it, but I had also had such challenge and frustration. I kept going and started to smell that campfire smell! And there it was! My shelter! People! Ahh. I walked in and found a spot near Colt and Eric. I put my tent down and changed into my sleep clothes. I sat in my tent and tried to snack on my food to lighten the weight as I chatted with Colt and Eric. I got up eventually and brought my food to the fire. I made noodles and again tried to finish them all, unsuccessfully. I was having a blast talking with everyone though! They are all calling me Little Debbie because some of them were from the campsite the other night. Giggles came up again as a suggestion though. So we¢ll see! I was sitting so close I had smoke in my eyes and on my body, but I didn¢t care. It was so warm. Everyone wanted to see the sunset, so I went along. I sat in the grass on top of a ridge and watched. It was beautiful, and I¢m sure on a warmer night, that would¢ve made for a gorgeous campsite. Ty went up into a tree haha and got an incredible view, and I snuggled with the doggie, Buck. Such a sweet dog! I wanted to bring him into my tent for warmth! Truly a good boy. Haha. Colt and Eric had made a fire near our tents, which I was happy about! They had tried to hang my bag, but it was too heavy. I have to eat more food. Tomorrow morning is gonna be a big breakfast haha. Whether I want it or not! They helped me hang it. True lifesavers. Bear-bagging is truly tough. Q-tip spent 45 minutes throwing the rock over and missing, and throwing it over again and missing. I honestly really dislike having to do it. I mentioned before that I liked the bear boxes. Well they really are genius. I knew they wouldn¢t have them past Georgia, but they really should. People do such a terrible job bearbagging and there are embarrassing pictures on the internet of it. And the bears are way smarter than this method. Anyway, Colt and Eric are pros, so my bag was up in no time. I left my water filter inside by accident, I hope it doesn¢t freeze tonight. I stood by the fire with Colt, Wobbles, and Tinder (also a story there haha) and chatted as it died down. I¢m now snuggled in my bag writing this. I am anxious about tomorrow. My mind was relaxed tonight and I was laughing and enjoying myself with all the people at the shelter, but I know the mileage and stress of tomorrow will eat away at me. I¢m going to try to start out better and really focus in on the goal right ahead of me rather than miles ahead or days ahead. I can do this! What a mental challenge the AT is though. Phew! Song of the day: ¢Fear¢ by Ben RectorGood night all.Little Debbie/Giggles