Date: 2011-05-25
From: Sarver Hollow shelter

To: VA 620
Miles today: 14.9

Day 65- I slept well, one of the hikers got up at 6:00am and left so I really did not go back to sleep. I got up at 7:00am and actually went back down to the spring and filled up my water containers. It was 6 miles to the next known water source and I thought I better have a full load. Up the hill I went and I was back on the trail at 8:20am. After about 2 hours I was exhausted. I have been using one NUUN tablet everyday for awhile. It is a Gatorade type product with more "stuff" in it. I would have taken more but I only had enough to last me until Friday. I arrived at Niday shelter at 11:20am, ate and decided to rest for awhile and see if that helped. My clothes were totally wet, but I did take off my boots and laid down in the shelter. I don't think I actually fell asleep but at least I was off my feet. Then the fun began, up Brush Mountain I went. The climb was only 1,600 feet and I thought I would never make it, it went on and on and I felt worse and worse. I would take 20 or so steps and would have to stop. It was in the high 80*F and high humidity and I knew it was taking its toil on me. The feeling was very similar to hitting the proverbial ¢wall" when running. It is as if you have no control of your body and cannot make it go or follow commands. Also, by having rested for an hour earlier in the day there was a possibility of running out of sunlight. On top of the mountain there is a monument in honor of Audie Murphy, who is the most decorated American soldier in WWII, having received 24 medals, including the Medal of Honor. The neat thing was, there is a stone, engraved monument and then others have stacked rocks along side of it. My goal this morning was to get to Pickle Branch shelter which would leave me 12.5 miles to Catawba and all you can eat on Thursday. During the afternoon, I knew I would not make it, so I altered my target to camp at a creek at VA 620. I arrived there at 6:50pm and set up my tent. Almost immediately my body started cramping. My fingers and hands would pull tight and I could not grip anything. I knew what was happening because I have experienced this before after running in high temperatures and humidity. I knew my electrolytes were again out of balance. I had taken 3-4 potassium pills during the day and had the one NUUN drink but it evidently was not enough. When I went down to the creek to rinse off, I notice someone had left some trail magic in the creek, a Sprite, several Cokes and bottled water. I immediately downed the Sprite and a bottle of water. After eating, even though I was concerned about the caffeine, I drank a Coke too, just to get something into my body. The caffeine did not keep me awake but my cramps did. Even in the short dreams I had, I was cramping. As I laid there during the night I knew I had a major decision to make, "what was I to do the next morning¢ After a prayer seeking guidance and thinking through the situation I decided I needed to pull myself off the trail and get rehydrated and get my electrolytes back in order. I was already planning to take Saturday and Sunday off so I really hesitated to take off an additional 2 days. But I knew if I did not get this fixed, I would continue to struggle. In hindsight, I probably should not have done the 14.9 miles today but again, I had to get to a water source. My total miles are now at 686.3