Date: 2019-04-03
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter 

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

Today was good! Yay! I had a long day planned and knew there would be a challenging mountain in there, Standing Indian. I keep starting too late. I¢m so wiped that without an alarm, I¢ll wake up at 8:30, even if I went to bed at 8. I have to get up earlier so I can start hiking earlier and get to camp and set up. I left at around 10am. I went pretty slowly this morning, mainly for my head. I needed to take deep breaths and calm myself so I wouldn¢t get frustrated early on. It actually worked quite well, except that because I was going slowly, I knew I¢d have a late day. I got to Standing Indian and ate a Clif bar, but I was anxious for the climb. It was probably the longest climb I¢ve ever done. Long and slow. I can¢t tell whether I prefer a long and slow climb or a short and steep one. I think short and steep actually. I stopped frequently to give my mind and body a break. I took some advice from Wobbles last night and set smaller goals for myself. Get to that next root up that small incline, stop for water at that tree. I ran into a whole pack of trail ambassadors/ATC members. They were all very nice and asked me about my trip, although the women were extra cautious with advice about me and ¢creepy men¢. That spooked me a bit since I haven¢t really met any creepy people. I¢ve loved everyone I¢ve met and we¢ve been yucking it up! I know there are creepy people and I know that hitchhiking as a woman and camping alone as a woman has its risks, but I stick with people because I feel safer that way. And I think I¢d have an idea when someone was creeping me out. But ugh, they got me in my head again with these thoughts! They told me the trail skirted the summit, but that there was a trail up to the summit. A lot of these AT mountains ¢skirt the summit¢. What¢s that all about? Spent half my day climbing a mountain and never saw a view? I was grateful for their advice. I would¢ve skipped that ¢side trail¢. And when I got to that, the whole clan of people from last night was there and they all said there was ¢no view¢. I told them what I had heard, but they were all wiped and ready to head out, so I went up the side trail on my own. Sure enough, there was an incredible view. It was truly spectacular. I sat on the rock face and stared at it for a while, just taking it in. Someone else came up, but none of the people I knew. I headed down the trail and it was the longest downhill I¢ve ever done too. A lot of it was actually just walking on top of the mountain on flat ground, and then it went down. What a big mountain. Sheesh! I stopped at the bottom to check the mileage and have a snack. Overall it had been a bit rocky and the slow incline was annoying, but it was a gorgeous mountain and a good way to kick out half of the day¢s mileage.I only had three more miles to go, and it was all flat or downhill, which was nice. It was really rough terrain though. A ton of roots and rocks and stream-crossings. I saw a few people camped along the side, and then ran into a woman lying on the trail with her feet up. She was a mood haha. It¢s tempting to just lie down on the trail and throw my pack everyday haha. Her name was Spare Change. I hiked ahead and before I knew it, was at my shelter. It always feels so good to arrive at my shelter. I see the tents and the people and smell the campfire and I get pumped. It was around 6pm given my late start, slow morning pace, and stops. I set up my tent and started snacking. I finally started to feel more hungry today! A little bit more! Yes! I filled up my water and filtered it and then went to deal with this bearbagging situation. Spare Change was hanging her bag at the same time, so she helped me. I don¢t know if I can do this alone haha. Especially without rope, but also just arm strength to throw, not getting it tangled or stuck, and not breaking the rope or branch. She threw the rock over and got it on the second try. I left my line up while I ate, which is often what people do. I ate Mountain House lasagna and I finished the whole thing! Yay hunger! I was happy. I hung my bag, again needing help to tie the special knot they use in the PCT method. Such a process! I realized I still had trail mix in my pocket and there was no way I was taking that bag down, so I ate it and shared it with people. There¢s a pretty sad looking bearbagging job here tonight. It¢s like two feet off the ground. Don¢t really know what that accomplishes, as a bear can easily reach up and take that down, but it makes me feel better about my struggles with this process! Bear boxes, please follow me! I am now in my tent getting ready for bed. I¢m warm and cozy in my bag tonight. I may have left my water filter in my food bag again and it¢s worrying me, but I¢ll check in the morning. Also I¢m sorry if I¢ve taken a while to get back to you or respond to comments while on the trail. I keep my phone in airplane mode all day and just use Spotify Premium, and then when I want to check in, I turn airplane mode off and it immediately begins to suck the battery. Sometimes I¢ll send a text or make a post, and then turn airplane mode back on. I have an external battery that has up to four charges on it, but only want to use it when I know I can charge it too! Anyway, just wanted people to know! I have a lot of social media catching-up to do! I type these journal entries in the notes app while my phone is in airplane mode and then I turn it off, post them, and turn it back on again.Song of the day: ¢I¢ve Gotta Be Me¢ by Ryan TedderNight all! Little Debbie/Giggles