Date: 2017-03-30
From: Long Creek Falls

To: Cooper Gap
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 2 on the Appalachian TrailMarch 30Miles Today: 6.9Total Miles (from now on, won't include approach trail): 12.1Up a little before 7am this morning. I woke up to the sounds of a running creek which had soothed me to bed the night before. There were also birds chirping away as if saying "it's time to get up and get movin'." I laid in bed and thought about how crazy it was that I was on the AT. I imagine this feeling will last for a month or so before it starts to fade and hiking everyday feels like the norm. After laying still for a bit I checked over my blisters and my chaffing. Everything was feeling good this morning for the most part. I began to do the morning breakdown of my gear. First was the sleeping bag, then the sleeping pad, and finally the tent. It was around 7:45 by the time I had finished putting my stuff away. Then it was on to some more blister treatment. I wrapped all my toes in tape as well as covered any areas that had blisters from yesterday. After dealing with blisters all your life, you eventually figure out what works best for you to prevent them further. None of the toes I taped yesterday morning had blisters... I should've have wrapped all of them in the first place. Oh well, I'll take it as a learning experience. I opted not to eat right away and took some food out from my bag and stowed it for easy access while hiking along the trail. We headed out of camp at 9. Later than we would've liked but we will get quicker. The trail was pretty easy going for most of the day. We stopped at Hawk Mountain Shelter to get some water. We met a very nice ridge-runner who was there taking a break. He informed us on what the trail was like up ahead and that there would be no water for the next 7 miles unless the Army Rangers had set up their water tank at Cooper Gap. After chatting awhile we started back down the trail and shortly came to Horse Gap. I sat there for a bit and had a tuna fish and pepperoni wrap on sundried tomato and basil with hot sauce. While stopped, I took some time to take of my boots and air my feet out. They were in rough shape and I had earned a few more blisters, one of which was a blood blister coming up under my right pinky toenail. My pace slowed to a crawl and thoughts began entering my head of being forced off trail due to the severity of my feet. My biggest fear of the entire AT was becoming a reality. Sassafrass Mountain was the next obstacle in the way. The climb wasn't too bad. It was slightly uphill and had several switchbacks which eased the battle. After coming down Sassafras, I arrived in Cooper Gap. My dad decided to take a rest on top of the mountain so I waited for him at the bottom. The rangers' water tank was sitting in the parking lot so I took the opportunity to fill up my bottles. A little while after my dad came strolling in. We ended up setting up camp at Cooper Gap which was a mere 6.9 miles from where we started this morning. I'm feeling a bit down and unsatisfied with the miles we put in today. I would've liked to keep going but my feet have only gotten worse with each step. I'm sitting in my hammock now trying to rest them back in to shape. It's been difficult to keep the thoughts of "maybe this long distance hiking thing isn't for you" out of my head. For now I'm going to press on. The only way I'll get off trail is if my blisters get to the point where I can't physically walk any longer or if they get infected. My chaffing has gotten much better and I adjusted my pack so it wasn't riding on my shoulders. 2 out of 3 issues gone.