Date: 2004-05-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.4

I am ashamed to admit that I am a complete sissy. Sooo ashamed. I¢ll start this off like all great stories from the back country -- There I was . . . no really -- there I lay in my tent trying to snuggle down into my sleeping bag after waking up at 11:30 freezing. I put my socks on and drifted back to sleep. At 2:00 a.m. I woke up to a loud noise outside my tent. What was that!? I thought to myself. My heart was racing. The wind had picked up and my tent was flopping around a lot. Okay -- stop & listen -- don¢t freak out. It¢s probably just the wind. I lay there listening -- nothing except some leaves being blown around could be heard in the forest. So I gained composure. Laughed at myself for thinking I had heard a bear. Then, snuggled once again back down into my sleeping bag. Wrrpernkslap! What the? Okay -- my heart is racing -- I feel like screaming and running into the woods at top speed. Kate! Hold it together! Listen . . . no other sounds . . . no bear . . . snuggle down into bag -- once again. Before totally giving the entire play-by-play I will sum up my evening as this: Crack! -- Heart pounds! Head of bag -- listen -- nothing, but wind -- a whimper of self pity and continued staring at the ceiling of my tent. Yes, this sadly continued until 5:15 in the morning, when I passed out due to sleep deprivation. Luckily I slept a whole 15 minutes before I woke up and had to use the bathroom. Great. Ended up getting about five decent hours of sleep. Why? Because I had let myself get all worked up, because of some wind and leaves rustling around my tent. Pathetic! Yeah-yeah! I¢m a woman of the woods all right.So we hiked 13 miles today. It was blissfully short. We stopped at one of the Waysides (Loft Mountain Wayside) and I got a plethora of food. A bacon cheeseburger with the works, fries, and a blackberry milkshake -- Oh, and a bag of potato chips now that I am at the shelter.Mom and I hiked (kind of) with ¢Tell It Like It Is.¢ It has been great. She¢s my age and a ton of fun. We chatter on about stuff and laugh a lot. This has been one of the greatest days on the trail thus far!Oh, I wanted to list off to friends and family back home how healthy I am eating out here on the Trail.Today:Bacon cheeseburgerFriesChips - 1 bag Ruffles, Med. Size2 Coffee Nips1 Snickers1 Advantage Bar - Almond Brownie1 Cherrios and Milk Cereal Bar1 Box Macaroni1/4 Rice Crispy Bar1 Blackberry MilkshakeSo, not very healthy. Can hear my one friend for sure giving me a lecture about my eating. It is like that almost every day. Yesterday I ate 2/3 of a jar of peanut butter in one sitting. But surprisingly, I¢m healthy. I¢m losing weight, but feeling stronger. The next real town we encounter -- a trail town -- I hope to switch back to pitas or tortillas and cheese, dried fruit and nut mixture and more advantage bars. I am quickly getting tired of Ramen and the ¢sweets.¢ Hoping to indulge in a salad soon as well. My body isn¢t used to the large amounts of sweets I consume on the trail and only greasy fast food from towns.I have so many stories to write down each day in letters, postcards and journals that I sometimes run out of time. I hope I can capture as much of this journey as I can between paper and film. Hands cramping = later.