Date: 2014-05-01
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Allen Gap
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: broken clouds

AT day 26 ThursdayWhen we got up this morning, the sky was black and ominous and it was fairly cold. It wasn't looking like it was going to be a very dry day for hiking. But after waiting around for two days, we had no choice but to set out under the dark sky. The trail started with a pretty steep uphill climb and with heavy packs full of food, it felt like it would never end. The boys took off going pretty quickly but I couldn't keep up. My legs were sore and my pack was so heavy (with all my healthy food) I didn't even try to stay with them. Somehow two days off and still never got a chance to rest. So my legs were worn out immediately. I guess I've never really been clear about the hills/mountains we climb. If you have ever gone to the gym and used a treadmill with an incline feature that goes to ten, you'll have an idea of what I mean by steep. The average grade on the AT is 12%. At some points you have to use your hands. Today wasn't one of those days, thankfully, but it was still pretty tough starting out. It was the type of day where we showered before we left, but within ten minutes were dripping sweat. Goodbye clean everything! I caught up with the boys for our first break after three miles. It was chilly when we stopped; all the cold sweat makes us freeze when we aren't moving. We didn't rest long for that reason. As we were walking up our next hill - a much more gradual one- one of the guys from YWAM came up behind us. He is the fastest guy we have met out here. He consistently does twenty plus miles a day and some weeks has done thirty mile days back to back. But today he was even faster, because he was taking advantage of being able to use a lighter pack since we crossed roads a few times throughout our day and the van was able to meet him with supplies. He actually walked with us for about two miles though, which was nice! It's always fun to have other people to chat with. It makes the time go by faster!Before we knew it, we had done eleven miles! We stopped for another break at a shelter, where there were tons of people. Lots of people were slack packing today and I was super jealous since my pack felt like it was a hundred pounds! Surprisingly, we knew none of them. We were officially out of our "bubble" of hikers. It was sad. We miss our friends! It was still early and the rain had held off!!! In fact, the sun came out and it turned out to be a really nice day! We kept walking. Luckily, there was some downhill thrown in as well as more steepish hills. When we got about 15 miles in, we came across a great campsite so we decided to stop for the day. The YWAM van was near our site so we bummed some water off them and learned this was where they were stopping too. We were excited to be able to camp with them again! We built a fire and set up our tents and soon some of our favorite people strolled into camp. Bamboo and Unger, just stopped for dinner and kept hiking, but most stayed. It was great to sit around the fire and chat!Jon surprised us with a bag of marshmallows which he shared with us. Gunpowder, Flint, RH, a new friend named Tumble Melon, Jon and I sat around the fire roasting marshmallows! It was awesome! A really nice end to a nice day!