Date: 2016-03-18
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 26 - Russell Field Shelter to Siler Bald Shelter 3/18/16 14.6 milesThere was definitely an animal in our camp last night. Cheetah and I heard it directly next to our tents. We think it was either a deer or skunk. Didn't sound too much like a bear. Woke up around 6:45am and got moving bc we had a long day planned at 14.6 miles. I've become concerned about the small amount of calories I am consuming. I don't think my muscles are able to repair the damage caused by each day's miles. I ate nutella and a chocolate chip cliff bar for breakfast. Cheetah also gave me a Nunn which is a sort of energy protein drink. I like to chug whatever water is left in my nalgene (along with a propel or gatorade packet) before leaving camp. I think (know*) I need to eat more. Immediately began our hike uphill, as usual. After 3 miles the terrain drastically changed. The trail became extremely thin and deep, as if it were dug out. It looked like our calves had sunk into the golden wheat grass. There were also a lot of boulders. Which made sense bc our first big climb was Tennessee's Rocky Top! Cheetah and I hung out on top and enjoyed the amazing views. I ate a bag of peanut butter m&m's. A new friend summited shortly after us. his name is North Star and he is a high school guidance counselor from Vermont. Very nice, talkative guy. His daughter is 23 and an Athletic Assistant to the women's softball and soccer teams at UNC and his son is at syracuse and wants to become a sports caster. He hung with us for a bit but he has long legs and is in shape so he took off ahead.We left a bit before Corncob and Rhodo left camp so we also saw them at the top of Rocky Top. From there we had 10.6 hard miles to go. We went about 6 miles and made it to a shelter for lunch. There were 3 boys out for a spring break trip. 2 were from France and I was from Brazil. They said they study at a university in Chicago. Also, I forgot to mention that yesterday we ran into 3 seniors from the University of KY on spring break. Pretty cool to see some fellow UK fans! We ate lunch and got water to filter. I had ramen and a snickers bar. We left there at 3pm with 5.7 miles to Siler bald Shelter.These last miles were beyond tough. A lot of steep uphills. My arch and heel on my right foot is pretty bruised and needs rest. Luckily my blisters are not back but I feel new foot pain every once in a while. I needed motivation so I put in my earphones and listened to music. This helped for a bit. My stride lengthened and my spirit lifted. At about 0.5 from the shelter I started feeling desperate to get there. Extremely steep uphill climb. My feet hated me...and still do. Made it to the shelter and immediately decided to sleep inside even with the threat of Norovirus. Chance of rain and cold temperatures tomorrow so don't want to have to break down my tent in the rain. Tomorrow we plan on waking early and getting started by 7:30am. We climb Clingman's Dome which is the highest elevation on the trail at around 6,600 ft. Then our moms are meeting us at Newfound Gap. It will be a hard 12 mile day but we hope to get to the gap by 2-3pm.Met some new people tonight. Brothers from Maryland named Nomadic Fish and Chalk Dust, 28 & 24. Nice guys. Bandit showed up around 7pm. She has been on our same schedule for a couple days. She is probably the strongest person I have met so far. She is deaf and is solo hiking the trail. Super brave and really cool. North Star is here along with Tots and Little Tree. Good group, we are now around serious hikers who will most likely make it to Katahdin. Ready for tomorrow and to see my mama!