Date: 2019-06-30
From: Loft Mountain Campground 

To: Loft Mountain Campground
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Slackpack! We got out early and headed to a road 17 miles away to slackpack south. While we were driving, we ran into Salamander, who was walking on the road to a Ranger station. Her knee was hurting her. We picked her up and took her there, but when we got there, there was no one around. It seemed totally abandoned. The station is on Guthook, as it has a water spigot hikers can use, but it is kind of weird that no one is there. Rick said there was a town nearby that he could take Salamander to, so he went and took her there and dropped me and Thumper off. I hoped she was okay and getting treatment! Thumper and I started the day with a little up and ran into Cakes!! Yay! He¢s so great. He¢s a speedy one, so I was happy I got to see him. Today actually had a ton of climbs. It was harder than both of the past two days. There were some nice views, and we knew we¢d pass the Ranger station too. We were going slowly and taking several breaks. When we got to the station we didn¢t have much left to do. I had to go to the bathroom and was hoping someone was there. Two people drove by in cars, but no one was inside or around. It was just weird. I ended up going on the side of the road and was sure I flashed everyone, but when you gotta go you gotta go! Lol.We got to an overlook that was about 4 miles from the campground. We found Rick¢s cooler with trail magic that he leaves every day and we had some powerades. Thumper checked his phone and Rick had texted, saying he¢d have dinner for us both ready at 5. It was almost 5. We were both a bit worried about not making it back on time, and as I¢ve seen, Rick can be a little sassy, even though he¢s been wonderful to us both. Thumper said that we were just a few miles by road and we should just yellow blaze to make it in time. I was definitely against the idea and it was stirring up all those feelings from before about yellow blazing and my hike and what it all meant. But I was also worried. I don¢t like to get in trouble or let people down. I didn¢t want to be late and have Rick be upset with us. Normally I could totally do a 17 mile slackpack by 5, but today was slow. Thumper and I have fun and I¢m thankful for his company, but we don¢t make great progress. Thumper asked a couple in the parking area before I could really decide and they said they could take us. I didn¢t fight it, but was having a lot of trouble with this. The couple was very nice and they were from CT, so we bonded over that! We got back to the campground and Thumper didn¢t want to tell his Uncle that we yellow blazed, but I was feeling ashamed and struggling, so ended up letting it slip. Now Rick believed in us even less and gave us sass for not even finishing a slackpack. Ugh I¢m just struggling right now. The skipping, the judgment, the mental pain, the lack of progress, it¢s just adding up.Rick had grilled a pork loin and it was delicious. It was some of the best food I¢ve had in a while. I miss fresh grilled meat. I ate at least half the loin. It was so good! I was very thankful for that. Rick has done a lot for me and for Thumper. Thumper and I went back for more milkshakes, but the machine was down. Sadness! We hung out at the amphitheater and got beers to share with Rick. It was actually very nice to chill with Rick and have some beer. I do think he needed that company too, but who knows. I sure as hell needed to be around people. Thumper and I went to bed. I was tired from the day and still struggling with the decision to skip today, even those few miles. I probably won¢t worry too much about making those up, as I¢m not going to die over four miles missed out of 2,192 at the end of this, but since I have to come back to VA anyway, I figure I¢ll probably make it up.Little Debbie