Date: 2013-03-15
From: Long Creek Falls campsite

To: Stealth camp before Justus Creek
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Good evening dear readers,A day of firsts! My first "full" day on the AT, my first major climb (defined by this flatlander as gaining at least 1000 ft in 1 mile), my first time running out of water, my first trail magic (directly related to the former 2 items!), and my first stealth camp! Also learned a u-knot from Joan to help with bear bagging, and (turn away if squeamish) I pooped in the woods for the first time on this trip! Wow, what a day. To start, I forgot to mention the fabulous dessert Joan and I had for dinner last night. Hiking friend and mentor Regina (owner of "forgiveness walks", check out her dehydrating web course if you want some awesome tips and recipes!) made up a pumpkin pie recipe to die for - with Trader Joe's ginger snap cookies, rehydrated in the field is simply spectacular. Simply delicious!! And this from a hiker who definitely doesn't have the hiker appetite yet and is actually packing out some of her dinner she couldn't eat last night. Ahem, you might notice that I DID finish dessert! I have my priorities Regardless, today was a simply gorgeous day - I continue to be in awe that I'm actually in the mountains and I get to hike every day for next several months!! Yes, I'm aware the honeymoon will probably wear off soon, plus it was getting quite hot this afternoon. The climb up Sassafras was long, but I took lots of breaks - hiked baby steps (thanks Stacy!) and shade to shade and tree to tree (thought of you, Holly, Roberta, and Meredith!) and filled with great conversation. Joan and I were both running short on water, so were relieved to find some gallon jugs at Cooper Gap left by Survivor Dave - thank you!!! Got me up Justus Mountain, and then Joan found an awesome seasonal water source from ice melt off, tasted phenomenal. We weren't positive how close we were to our target for the day, which was Justus Creek campsites, so decided to stealth camp on an old road coming down Justus Mt. We had a grand adventure going to the bottom of the valley speaking water out of a fantastic creek, and then set up camp, both of us extremely happy, me in my tent and Joan in her hammock. We saw the sunset, moonrise, and had a great warm night. I probably would have been more nervous to stay by myself in a non established area without Joan, and I was so excited to gain the confidence to stealth camp whenever I want or need to. Didn't see that many other thru hikers today - which is ok, I like this being a quite personal experience for now.Word of the day: exemplify - to be typical of, to show or illustrate by example. When I sent my standard "I'm alive and made it to camp for another day!" Message via my inReach device, I left it on for longer than normal. This time, my mom had a chance to send me a message back which absolutely exemplifies motherhood in my mind - she totally called me out on stealth camping! No matter how old you are, moms just KNOW when you're doing something you maybe shouldn't be! In this case, "Honey, how are you camping on a side of a hill?!" I had no idea Mom could even read the topographic maps. Just classic, Joan and I cracked up!