Date: 2008-01-07
From: Cable Gap shelter

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.1
Weather: broken clouds

mi. 6.1sleep shelterdest. Brown Fork Gap Shelter day I slept horibily last night. I fell asleep and woke up after an hour. As usual that means I'll be up for awhile. I ended up listening to almost all of coast to coast am. I think it was close to 4am or later when I finally went to sleep. That happens a lot back home. Then I can fill the time with TV or online stuff, that explains the late night forum posts I have. On the trail it is reading and a radio. I thought about making a fire last night, but I couldn't see any firewood laying around. I'm sure in the light I could have found some. I finally got up around 9am. I wasn't in a big hurry to get up. By the time I ate, signed the register, and packed up it was close to 10. Can't say it was my earliest start. I left a note for Torque saying I was either going short or medium today. He should be at the shelter I stayed at last night tonight. I was feeling pretty good on the hike today. The weather was fantastic. Definitly in the 60's. I was able to take a break in the sun without my shirt on. Seriously in January. I can't say I was in a hurry to get anywhere. It didn't take long for me to decide to do a short day today. Probibly the best thing for my ankle. I am thinking a medium day tomorrow and see what happens. My ankle is definitly sore, but feels good. Pretty close now to how it felt in ME when I was hiking on it then. I think I am going to switch from trail runners to a mid hiker after this hike. I need a little more ankle support than what these are giving me. I have been thinking about my gear a lot lately. I wonder how much of what I am hiking with now I will be using in a year. I got to the shelter at the late hour of 1pm. It's been awhile since I stopped this early. It feels great to be enjoying the trip vs trying to get miles on the hike. I spent the first 45 min doing the normal camp chores. I read the registor. I like to see if people are saying they had any problems staying at a shelter before I commit to it. I went and checked the water and filled up. Thankfully once again the water is pretty close. I got a good pile of firewood ready for tonight. Then got my sleeping gear and area setup. From there I did something I didn't think I would be doing in Janurary on the trail. I laid my foam pad on the ground in front of the shelter on the ground, took off my shirt, and laid in the sun. I even managed a short nap in the sun. It felt fantastic. With my eyes closed I could feel a huge amount of warmth coming from the sun. It brought me back to those times in ME and New England when I would lay on a rock in the sun. I haven't felt this warm, good warm and not sweating, on the trail in a long time. The rest of the night I did a lot of reading. All of which under the great backdrop of a campfire. A great night on the trail. I went to make a cell phone call, not enough service. I was able to send text messages though. I figured this was a good time to let the family know I made it ok. And I wonder why my mom worries. I noticed a couple differences in me physically today. I am really rested. Before my rest days for my ankle I was always tired at night and couldn't sleep or eat enough. Now my body has had time to catch up. I am not as hungry as I was before. I'm still eating a good amount. Just a little less and I am not as hungry. Sleep wise I am back to sleeping less. Maybe time off is a good thing. I may change my opinion of long breaks in a hike. I still think I will not go home. But maybe I should work in 3 consective nero (5 to 8 mile days) every month. That might be enough to let my body rest up. I could sleep in as late as possible, take a lot of breaks, and still get where I wanted to go long before dark. Add in a lot of food, and I think it will work wonders. I'll have to try that on my next multi-month trip.