Date: 2014-11-26
To: post trail day 10, be happy you arnt hiking
Miles today: 0.0

Post trail day 10*Trail companion update, Redbeard and Mike (sardine) finished the trail 2 days ago, Knives and Unplugged finished Yesterday, Included is a picture of him at the end.Ten things10 reasons I am glad I am not hiking:1.The cold: like i said it was really coming on at the end of the trail for me. I was not enjoying it. One particular day i remember that emphasizes this was the day from Icewater Spring Shelter in the Smokies. I woke up that morning and felt like ice. It took 45 mins to be able to feel my feet that day. Before that I was just walking on ice stilts. Plus every night was freezing and who needs that?2.Night Hiking: my least favorite night hiking memory, was every night hiking memory. That is all3. Making Miles: Waking up a little late sucked, cus that meant i was behind the bullet the entire time. Walking and knowing everytime i sat down i fell a little more behind killed me. Glad thats done4. Getting spooked by wildlife: It didnt happen often but anytime I accidentally stepped to close to wildlife it scared me. Well except for deers, they scamper super fast. Even a porcupine made me jump, the least scary thing.5. Electronics: wifi, tv. Im almost done with twin peaks. Sure its not as impressive as having a high hiking total, but i havent binge watched a show in awhile6.FacialHair: The facial hair was egregious at the end of the trail. It didnt look so hot and sometimes it hurt. I wanted to cut it for awhile but im not one ignore a tradition7: The Heat: those days when it was super hot was terrible. You didnt want to move, but moving=miles, and miles=smiles. so Gotta walk8. Hair itch: I have long hair. I didnt mind being dirty for the most part, but after awhile the hair would get itchy and mess up the sleeping. I was not a big fan of that.9.Packing Up: Every morning disassembling everything, that wasnt fun. I did not enjoy that becasue i was so comfortable in my bag (sometimes)10. Listening to day hikers trying to tell me something: yea thats it.10 worst memories (in no particular order)1. the aforementioned Icewater spring day. That morning was terrible, and was the longest i had to hike all trail without feeling my feet. JUST SOOO COLD2. New York/Bear mountian day: The opposite of the prior day, It was too hot and I walked 7 miles over 2 mountains before i got water Oh and did i mention it was 90 degrees that dayy. Lastly to make it worse was on top of bear mountain there was water, you just had to pay for it (yea right). By the time i actually got water my body didnt know what to do and i just layed down hurting becuase of it.3. Leaving Monson: Monson was this monster, it was a hundred miles away, and we made it after pushing hard.   We had 2 great days in monson. Once we got dropped of by shaws i was just so bummed to realize that we literally had obnly done 1/22 of the entire trail and we had sooo much more infront off us, that sucked.4. Poison ivy in the hundred miles: i didnt have poison ivy, but i thought i did. Pack rash sucked too but just the thought of it killed me. Pack rash sucked as well, every time a little adrenaline shot through me it felt like i was getting pricked a hundred times. It was terrible.5.The hangover day: It was only a couple of days after monson where I woke up and was more hung over than ive ever been. I had slept the entire night with my vomit in the tent. at about 5 i pulled my sleeping pad out of my tent and slept on the grass, then i vomited next to me a couple more times. Then with my first fully loaded resupply i had to walk 14 miles. I made it 4 and decided the next day would be "the walkening" a 22 mile day (i thought that was so far, what a loser)6. Day 2: walking that day alone killed me. Just i didnt expect to lose my family that quickly, when I did it just killed my spirits. Everyone has a "what the fuck did I just get myself into moment" this was mine. Then i had a "im so fucked moment" then i had a "shit shit shit moment". My mind wasnt in thru hike mode and day two really got me. 55 pound pack and first time hiking alone. gah it is just hard for me to think about now.7.the mosquito miles: There was this span of 5 straight miles that had the worst mosquitoes in my life. I dont know but massachuttess was doing something terrible. I was slackpacking this day but i was running and still getting eaten, that did not make sense at all.8.The final day of the virginia tomato challenge: yea ok, I did this to myself, but still. That was alot of tomatoes and i felt terribly sick. The one problem is since i made the challenge I couldnt spread the tomatoes out over a 24 hour period like the rules say. I carved all those tomates on the border so I couldnt eat them until then, so I ate a good amount, then I was just walking down the trail at the start of tennesee with a bag of cut tomatoes snacking on them. It was not fun.9. The day I met my parents in MA: I walked 20 miles in tevas without my Ipod. Yea that sucked. My boots had ripped, and the night before i had slept on my ipod and reset it. Those were not the good days.10: The day of parisberg va: First i had to rush all day to make it to parisberg. That sucked PO closed by 4 and I couldnt slow down at all. Then 4 miles out there was a trail reroute, so i was just walking with no clue of the elevation of where I was or how much further I had. Then the buffet was good but at the end of the day I had to walk back to the trail, completley full on buffet and somehow make it up a mountain. I didnt make it, i made it halfway after filling up water at the first "source" which was really just a trickle caused by the rain. Then I slept at the first flat place on the trail, that was about 2 miles in. BAD DAY