Date: 2015-05-16
From: Campbell Shelter

To: Daleville, VA
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up this morning when Chris came into the shelter to get his stove so that he could cook breakfast. It was shortly after 5 a.m., and we hoped to get an early start so that we could enjoy the afernoon in town. It took us a while to get going, though.I have been extra slow and lazy in the mornings lately. I probably spent 20 minutes sitting in the shelter, stating into the trees and sporking granola into my mouth in a sleepy daze. But then I ate a Nutrigrain bar. And a CLIF bar. And then I started to feel better.I have been so hungry lately. I AM SO SICK OF BEING HUNGRY. Last night I ate dinner and dessert then brushed my teeth, chatted and did chores and by the time I went to bed, I was hungry again. It is a horrible curse, this hiker hunger. Sometimes, the more I eat, the hungrier I am. UGH.I waited for Chris to be ready and followed him onto the trail, mentally preparing myself for the one big climb of the day. At least it would be over within the first 5 miles. And it was awesome, of course. The trail runs right along Tinker Cliffs foe about half a mile. Yes, they really are cliffs, with a great view. That is how I spent my morning, climbing a terrible hill to awesome cliffs. My life is great.We stopped at the only shelter between Campbell, where we stayed last night, and Daleville. The Australians and Neon caught up to us there. We all snacked. Neon raved about the cliffs and ate a pouch of SPAM, which I balked at. I can't do SPAM. The Koreans LOVE it. They give SPAM gift sets at holidays.I cannot eat SPAM.Eventually we set off, anticipating an easy descent into town. HA! The trail was gorgeous as always, but so rocky, we made poor time. We had less than 10 miles to travel fro, shelter to town, but by the end, my feet felt like they were going to fall off again.But we made it, and the first thing we did was head to Kroger for lunch. We each bought a pint of Ben and Jerry's, and sat at a picnic table in front of the store sharing them (I got Phish Food, he got Half Baked). I didn't even feel bad. I walked 100 miles in 4 days. I EARNED THAT PINT.THAT'S RIGHT. I GOT TO CLIFF-WALK AND I HAD A PINT OF ICE CREAM FOR LUNCH. ON THE SAME DAY. Are you jealous yet?! You wouldn't be if you saw the state of my heels, I promise. I was so happy, though. Ridiculously happy, even if I can't walk right.We picked up our boxes at the outfitters, and checked into our room. I sorted my mail drop, sharing some things with Chris. I ate my cookies from Auntie Pat even though I had just had a pint of ice cream. Then we headed back to Kroger for groceries. For some reason I was craving lots of dairy products, even after eating ice cream. For dinner, I awkwardly ate salad out of my cookset (it is way too small for this), pretzels with onion dip, and Goldfish (which I was craving thanks to Trail Mentor Alexa). For dessert, vanilla yogurt with strawberries and chocolate milk. Life is good. I am clean and happy, and relieved to have all day tomorrow to rest my feet and wash my clothes. AND THE HOTEL HAS FREE HOT BREAKFAST. I might even get up, eat, then go back to bed and get up again for second breakfast.I am thankful to have fresh food (thanks for the strawberry and salad money, Alexa!) and a bed to sleep in (thanks, Lucy!).