Date: 2015-06-12
From: Boiling Springs Backpacker Campground

To: Cove Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 22.1
Weather: broken clouds

I called Candace for a last goodbye before she headed to the airport. It was a sad phone call. It is hard enough to contact home while I am on the trail, but even harder to contact Japan. I can't just pick up the phone and call, especially with the time difference. So I took advantage of my last chance to hear her voice. And of course we both cried.I almost wished that I had told Chris I wanted to hike alone today so I could stew in my twinless misery. But he made me continue our day-by-day recounting journey, which distracted me, which was good.We passed Treebeard camped in a small CEMETERY in the woods. Creepy. Chris said he wouldn't mind sleeping in a cecemetery sometime. He wanted to try it. Me? Nope. Nope nope nope. I have no desire to sleep on top of or near someone's dead body. Not that I expect ghostly specters to seep up out of the soil to torture me in the black of night, but the idea of dead bodies makes me uncomfortable. Although I suppose that I am always surrounded by the remains of countless unknown critters all the time out here... and the soil itself, which is full of dead and decomposed things. All that rich organic matter!I checked my watch at almost EXACTLY ten o'clock. Then I checked my guidebook page. Then I shouted ahead to Chris.,"I think we did ten by ten!" Ten miles by ten o'clock isn't a daily accomplishment, but it was an accomplishment today on the flat terrain. I don't know why these stupid little accomplishments excite me so much (or at all), but they do. Ten by ten is awesome. Not as awesome as my 100 miles in 4 days, but still cool. Gotta celebrate the little things.Those ten miles were put in early because we headed out early to avoid the midday heat, meandering along hayfields and cornfields and rambling through the woods in between.It was hot, and humid, and hot, and I was sweaty all day. Very sweaty. Not the greatest day to be out in the sun. We were glad to make good progress so we didn't have to melt in the heat. Not that I didn't melt anyway. It was a day of being soaked... wet underwear and shorts mean more chafing. NOT FUN. VERY NOT FUN. Could have been worse, though. Definitely doesn't stop me from having a good time. I may be becoming completely insane at this point. I get tired, of course. My feet hurt, of course. But I am ALWAYS ready for more.Water sources have become fewer and farther between, so more careful planning has been in order. Sometimes water sources are super inconvenient... there is no guarantee that shelters and campsites will have water. There are stretches of over ten miles where you can't find water, so that means carrying more from the closest water source.We stopped for lunch at Darlington Shelter, arriving hot and wet and tired. The Taj Mahal privy there was not impressive. It was big but not well ventilated. I was kind of disappointed.Chris took a nap while I read a copy of American Gods that had been left by Bear Claw. I first read it years ago because Candace loved it and recommended it and was psyched to find it. It was like the trail was giving me a twin gift! I needed a twin gift on the day my twin departed back to the other side of the world.After like two and a half hours at the shelter, it was hiker reunion time! Coco, Magnus, and the Aussie Legs arrived! Yay! "I am so glad to see you guys!". Chris said. I agreed.We all pushed on to Cove Mountain Shelter, forming a string of hikers on the trail. We rearranged and leapfrogged and were kind of a mess. Chris was clearly revitalized by his nap and massive bout of snacking, because he bypassed everyone, practically sprinting down the trail. I kept up after him, and when he stopped to put on his pack cover as a gentle afternoon shower began, I asked, "Are we racing?!" But apparently he was just very energized.We entered a section of trail that the guidebook warns is "very rocky". Total lie. It is rocky, but not that bad. My feet have definitely encountered and endured worse foot-tenderizing areas. Over-exaggeration AGAIN. Thanks, AWOL.Side note: When I say guidebook, I mean AWOL's guide. http://www.theatguide.com/ (AWOL is his trail name.) It lists mileage, landmarks, locations of water sources, shelters, and some campsites, has an elevation profile of the entire trail... It is SO USEFUL. I carry the relevant pages in a ziploc bag in Gertrude's side pocket and consult it about 100 times a day. An awesome publication, though not always 100% accurate. The hike would be much harder without it. So this time, I will put out a less sarcastic thanks to AWOL. (NOTE: I have since read,,in said book, that AWOL himself isn't responsible for the elevation profiles... sorry, AWOL).At the final shelter, hiker reunion continued, with the addition of Hot Chocolate, Tinkerbell, and John Solo (I think that's his name). Woo-hoo for familiar faces! And other girls to talk to!Joker is also here. I haven't met him before. He seems like a nice guy, but he tagged the shelter wall, which I do not approve of. People especially seem to like to do this in privies. What exactly is the fascination of writing your name in a poophouse in the middle of the woods? I don't get it.Campsites here suck, so I am sheltering. I barely got up in time this morning. My new ear plugs are so effective that I slept right through my alarm, awakening 20 minutes late and packing in a panicked rush so I would have time to call home without making Chris wait too long to start out, because we wanted to beat the heat.There is actually a warning on this shelter about the presence of porcupines. I LOVE porcupines. I made a ridiculously amazing porcupine Halloween costume for the EEK of Ecology event at SERC last year. I might even get to wear it again.No one here believed me that porcupines can climb trees! Someone else told them I was wrong, and I kept hearing my name as the veracity of my claim was debated. I had to Google it to prove that I wasn't telling lies.We are all hoping for a midnight porc encounter.I enjoyed an evening of good company and good stories. Hooray!In other news, I am still trying to eat more protein, and doing well with that. Definitely not doing so well with eating less candy, haha. I am always so hungry! It is so hard to watch Chris eat nonstop and not do the same. I have to be careful not to pick up his bad habits (not that he really has any, except maybe for swearing, and I already know I am picking that up... he even mentioned that he noticed it, too. I'm working on that as well as the protein.). There is no way I am going to be able to not gain more weight. I NEED MY CHOCOLATE. Gotta fit in that dress, though. It is so weird that there is less than a month left until the wedding. It is weird that it is already FRIDAY. Time passes so strangely. I can't keep track of the days.Also my shoes are starting to fall apart, after more than 500 miles. I am trying to make them last as long as possible... I will be sad to say goodbye to my awesome trail runners. They have been so good to me. I may have to hold a candlelight vigil when I retire them.I am thankful for trail friends, for my book, thankful I got to see and talk to my sister, and thankful for the trail rising up to meet my feet. I am so thankful that every day, I get closer to home, and mom hugs. I miss those mom hugs.UPDATE: I am also now very thankful to be in the shelter, because it is POURING, haha. I am basking in the breeze and the temperature drop! Now the patter of rain on the shelter roof can lull me to sleep...