Date: 2018-10-06
From: Rocky Mountain Peak

To: Addis Gap
Miles today: 9.8

Day 99.8 miles today, 63.6 on the AT, 73.2 total The day started off with some rock music and two guys who¢d walked up Rocky Mountain in the dark.  They were a bit confused by our camp, but left after a few minutes. This was a little after 6.  I got up at 6:30 and packed up. I left at 8:00. Rambo wasn¢t moving yet, and I didn¢t see him again today.  I did meet Dakota and Adam who were doing a time lapse of the sunrise while vaping pot. They were pretty chill and had ¢run up¢ Rocky Mountain for the sunrise. They were heading north but had no destination. I was pretty impressed as I¢d staggered up that same path the evening before and it was steep and hard.  Heading off of Rocky Mountain was exciting because apparently there is a wasps nest on the trail. I was stung twice before I realized what was happening and rushed past it. I heard others had many more stings so I got out lightly. One sting was through my pants. Impressive stingers!The descent down Rocky Mountain was pretty gentle and not nearly as steep as the ascent on the other side. Yay!Trails today were really the best and gentle I¢ve seen. No boulder fields up or down steep ascents or descents. Nothing too precarious where you were worried about getting hurt. It was still hard and tiring :)I had some trail magic at Indian Grave Gap. I met two guys, whose names I¢ve forgotten. One was a local and the younger was visiting from Colorado. I was low on water due to the dry camp and they gave me a cold bottle from their cooler. They then took my trash. These acts of kindness sure mean a lot. I saw them later at the peak of Tray Mountain.  I ran into Paul ¢Nav¢ again today on my way up to Tray Mountain. He has a great memory and remembered my first trail name ¢StormChaser¢, how many days I was hiking, and even where I was going. He had swapped out his hiking partner (originally was his cousin) and was now hiking with his friend Dan. They were heading south bound and Dan has done more than 50 miles recently.  We said a wonderful prayer for our health before parting ways.  While getting water on the way up Tray Mountain I met three young men who were seniors at Georgia Tech. They had a ¢love hate¢ relationship with the school. All three were engineering majors. One of them saw my Nalgene and asked where it was from. I told him it was from Sea Base and a gift from my son Storm. Turns out two of the three were Eagle Scouts. One had worked two summers at Philmont and was a Ranger when Storm and I were there in 2017. He knew Mattie who was the Ranger for our crew. Small world. They were on Fall Break. I wish there had been fall break back when I was at university!Met three other young men at the top of Tray Mountain who were taking a three day weekend. I¢m really surprised at times how friendly folks are. We chatted for close to 30 minutes. One of them was an Eagle Scout as well. They send like fine young men, contributing to society.  I met a father (60s) and son (40s) who had found the best log to sit on. I joined them and learned they were heading to Tray Mountain. They told me how nice Addis Gap was and how steep the climb was up to Deep Gap Shelter. I made a note of that. I met ¢PT¢ around 4 who was young woman doing a solo hike southbound to Springer. She was trying to get to Tray Mountain, a tiring 4 miles mostly uphill from where I saw her.  She confirmed there was a water at Addis Gap. I wanted to make it to Deep Gap Shelter but just ran out of gas and was going too slow. I stopped around 5 and am stealth camping at Addis Gap, listening to the river gurgle. I took a cold bath in the river. It was refreshing :) Bear Bear was giving me a hard time about mailing back my chair, and if she reads this I hereby agree that I needed it tonight.  My sister asked me a simple question today: ¢is it getting easier?¢ That¢s a tough one. Setting up and breaking down camp is easier and faster. I rarely lose things now (big problem for many days). I¢m in much better shape, which really means that I stop less often, and when I do it may be more to clear the lactic acid in my legs rather than to gasp for air and to try and slow down a thundering heart (that was my first 5 days). Now I just gasp while I¢m walking and I slow down my pace to slow my heart. But I¢m drenched in sweat most of the day. I¢m probably drinking upwards of 8+ liters of water a day (and getting lots of electralites). It¢s warmer than I¢d hoped (Low 80s) and like a sauna. When I stop for any reason I¢m throwing off so much heat and moisture my glasses fog up. My fingers are often wrinkled because they¢re so wet. Ever try using an iPhone with wet wrinkled fingers? It¢s a disaster and that¢s much of my day (I need facial recognition).  I had to take off my screen protector so I could even get access to my phone, and then I shattered the screen two days later. I¢m having to be careful to not slip into heat exhaustion, so sometimes I have to stop to try and cool down. I¢m also burning between 6000-7000 calories a day. Think about how much gym time would it take to burn 4,000 extra calories, every day. And who would do it? You¢d be in the gym all day. And that¢s sort of what this is like, except it¢s not air conditioned, it¢s humid, and you¢re dancing your way over treacherous terrain (knowing you¢re one bad decision away from spraining an ankle or hamstring) and you¢re carrying a large heavy sack of potato¢s that has straps that have rubbed you raw in at least 4 places. A lady I met yesterday said she¢d fallen the day before and knocked herself unconscious. I do highly recommend it as a way to lose weight. Who can carry around and eat that much food? I¢m probably running a calorie deficit of 3000+ per day. It¢s good that I¢ve been preparing for this my whole life by adding fat to my body so I can burn it now :). This has been amazing, and I love the people I¢m meeting, and the scenery gorgeous, but this is hard work. I¢ll be ready for a low energy vacation (with buffets and showers) when I get home.  I¢m very thankful that my strained hamstring is really not giving me any problems. The pain is less each day. I wasn¢t expecting that but am so happy it¢s getting better. That may be due to prayers from friends and family. I miss seeing you and that¢s one of the hardest things about doing a solo hike like this. Steps: 35,800Floors: 258