Date: 2009-04-25
From: 0.3 miles past Laurel Fork Shelter

To: stealth site 1.5 miles before Iron Mountain Shelte
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: clear sky

I set out at 7:45 am- not exactly the early start I had hoped for. It was already warm, so I started out in my T-shirt and skirt. It was supposed to be the start of the so-called 'Tennessee Turnpike', but as the miles went on, I became more and more mad at the person who told me it was called this, and about the expectations of me doing over 25 miles per day that had been lingering in the back of my head ever since I had received the e-mail back in Hot Springs! This was no turnpike! I had a huge hill to ascend early in the morning, which went by the name of 'Pond Flats'. (Why anyone would name a mountain 'flats' is beyond me!) I trudged up it slowly, overtaking an older hiker in front of me, but it seems he did not want to be overtaken, and stayed as close to me as he could. I don't like it when I'm not given space, as I feel like I don't have the freedom to take pictures, or the pleasure of solitude. At one point, when my pinched hip nerve was hurting and I wanted to adjust my pack, I told him he could go ahead. "Oh, no... I was about to take a 'piture' myself..." Fine... I knew I was soon to come to a lake with a sandy area, so I waited to take my break there. What a gorgeous lake it was! I arrived a little before 10:30 am and found Lonesome Roads there. I decided to eat an early lunch, call Erik, empty my trash and put my feet in the cold water. I saw a couple of Canada Geese with ducklings and had to take pictures of them. By that time, Rattler had shown up, followed by El Hombre, Snuggles and a few others. They all thought I would have been in Damascus by now. (While it's nice that people think I'm fast, I don't like the pressure of staying ahead of everyone... Keeping an online journal does not allow me to just keep on hiking, and I think a lot of people don't realize how much time it requires to do this. I feel like I am just going to keep falling further and further behind everyone else...).   As the hour approached noon, the others decided to go for a dip and enjoy some Trail Magic beer provided by 'Workstay', who was enjoying a couple of days off. I wished I could stay and enjoy the lake and some rest with them, but felt I needed to press on if I was to make it to Damascus for my eye appointment on Monday. The temperature rose and I struggled onward. Every step was slow and painful, every thought difficult. My pack felt extremely heavy on my shoulders (and I was only carrying a day and a half of food!), my knees and arch bones hurt a great deal, and I was not enjoying myself. When not climbing uphill, I carefully stepped around the rocks encumbering my way. This was no 'turnpike' and I did not see how the average person could do 25 miles of this per day! I tried to pour some of my water on my body, but it was warm and had no effect. I craved some cold lemonade- pink or regular would do just fine- but there was no trail magic to be found on this hot day. I climbed another mountain and a man going south told me there was a crowd ahead- that I was the 44th northbounder he had seen that day! He asked me if I was going to Maine. "If I can make it up this hill...", I wanted to say. I think there is no such thing as thru-hiker shape. After 5 weeks, I felt much slower, weaker, and generally worse than I did in the beginning. I felt that any day hiker would put me to shame. But my legs definitely did thicken... another thing I did not like! Today, I did not like the AT at all!   When I arrived at Vandeventer shelter, Lonesome Roads said he hoped I got water at the last spring. I said I had not seen in. "Oh, that's too bad...Now you are going to have to walk 1/3 of a mile all the way down a hill..." I felt like I had just drawn a penalty card in Monopoly... sorry , you get to go back... I hit my head on a shelter beam and wanted to cry. It was a long, slow descent to the water, and an even slower climb back up. Then, it began to rain. A thunderstorm was passing through. It was after 5 pm and I had planned on getting to the next shelter that was nearly 7 miles away, but that now seemed almost impossible. I called Erik and told him that I was burnt out on hiking. He was planning on coming out to hike with me at Mount Rodgers, but we made a new plan to take an extra zero day in Damascus instead, and go see a movie and watch a play. I needed to relax and do something different...I got as far as I could by 7:30, set up my hammock, and cooked dinner as hordes of biting May flies swarmed around me.