Date: 2009-04-17
From: Mile 41.5

To: Rocky Mountain
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

I woke up this morning lying on the top bug netting part of my hammock with the bottom over me. I have no idea how I managed that one. I had a tough time last night because I am really missing my favorite people in Chapel Hill. Thanks y'all for the emails. When I get signal and receive warms words of encouragement it really helps. I've definitely been struggling to adjust to meeting people and losing people quickly. I think really the thing is that you get to know a wide sample of people and you bump into lots of various folk at different times.I dawdled a lot in my hiking today and still made it to my original destination of blue mountain shelter by 3p. I've been stopping early and was itching to move further so I pressed on to descend into Unicoi Gap. The great/sucky thing is that it descends about 1000 feet over a mile-ish only to cross a road and go right back up about 1000 feet.I thought that tonight would be my first night camping alone but I summited Rocky Mountain and ran into Kyle camping on top. So we are set up at 4017 feet elevation. There isn't water up here, but there are tons of places to hammock or tent.Kyle and I watched an amazing sunset over the Georgia mountains. The views are great up here but the sunset was partially blocked by trees. When we were bear bagging, my food bag is like 3 times bigger and fuller than Kyle's. I think it's a combination of me carrying too much food and him not enough snacky treats for the day.I picked up the last 300 pages of the 7th Harry Potter book at Blue Mountain Shelter so I have something to read again.Molly--you too may find this to be a decimation of the book. The covers are ripped off and the book was ripped in half. Poor Harry.I think it is going to be a chilly night. The biggest problem I've had in keeping warm at night is keeping my feet warm. At Mountain Crossings, Cool Breeze told me to try sleeping without socks on so I think tonight will be a good test for that. My sleeping bag and Jacks R Better underquilt do most of the work for keeping me warm in combination with mid-weight long underwear and my toboggan that typically comes off as I sleep. I have my coat in with me just in case things get too chilly but that hasn't been the case so far. I can't believe I've been out here a week already. I'm only 24.2 miles from the North Carolina border. To quote the Avett Brothers, "Carolina, one day I'll, some day I'll come home." That also happened to be one of my hiking song today.I also backflushed my water filter today. I use the msr hyperflow and so far I am happy. Overall it works quickly and efficiently. Backflushing is kind of annoying, but easy enough to do on a sunny day like today beside a beautiful spring.I had a nice talk with Will tonight. I really wanted to know about what he has been eating and to describe just how good that Carolina Pale Ale I bought tastes. I guess that shows what is on my mind: calories. I need to start paying more attention to my caloric intake because I am pretty sure I am not getting enough right now.My mom is meeting me in Hiawasee on Monday so that means I have 2 full days and a morning to go 15.3 miles. I'm thinking that tomorrow I am going to take my time and camp at the most fantastic spot I can find. Cook a hot lunch and dinner. Relax and let my feet heal some. And then do the same thing tomorrow. Thanks, Mom for helping me slow down a bit and not worry so much about keeping pace with a group of young guys. Hike Your Own Hike. I'm going to try harder to follow the mantra.--Carolina