Date: 2017-07-11
From: Spivey Gap

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 13.4

Today was not my day. Not by a long shot. I slept 10 hours, but had weird dreams about President Trump. We packed up our stuff, but ants seemed to have begun a colony in my pack, so I meticulously de-anted my pack. We went to the grocery store for Duct Tape and Nutty Bars. Steven was limping and wanted the tape for his blisters. When I got into the car, my knee hit the steering column or something and a strange blister(from either plant or bug) than I had on my knee burst open. It was painful, but not awful - just like I got stuck with a couple of pins in the same place. I also got a Coke because it said, "Andrea." Andrea is my sister.I suggested to Steven that we don't hike today because his blisters are so bad. He said that it was unacceptable. For some reason that annoyed me greatly. We started hiking at 10:40 (!!) from Sam's Gap. It was a hot start, but once we got into the forest it was cooler. I was out of breath, but okay, though my body didn't feel like doing anything. My legs felt like rubber bands and in the first mile, I pulled a gluteal muscle. Hooray. The FIRST mile. My BUTT. I use it ALL DAY!We soon encountered a guy taking photos and he asked us how we were. I said nothing, but I know I had a look on my face that indicated I wasn't the happiest even though I was smiling. Count said that we were good. The man responded that it was the only way to be on such a beautiful day in the woods. I smiled again and felt a little better... until we approached a group of about six people, some small children among them, carrying full packs. I couldn't catch up to them on a slight uphill. I felt weak. I hate feeling weak. They did stop and let us pass eventually, but it was a lot of power walking before I couldn't hear them talking anymore. We hiked up to Big Bald - me motivated by the fact that I didn't want the group to see me dying on the ascent. I was out of breath and dripping sweat, but I was determined!We stopped at a stream where I got my "enduracool" towel wet and I slung it over my neck. It didn't stay cool on my neck, but it did soak my shirt, keeping me cool.Big Bald was gorgeous. There was a teen group up there doing some activities that reminded me of my church youth group. They looked like they were having fun. We pushed to the shelter for lunch and got there around 2:00. Late start equals late lunch. The black flies were out and bothering me. There were a couple of cute little birds flitting about. I put a small crust of my bread on the ground and eventually one came over. :) I think that was one of the better parts of my day (mentally). After lunch I was super hating on the trail. I was mad at Count because even though he has massive blisters he can still hike faster than me. I was mad at the trail, I was mad at other people using the trail, I was mad at people talking about gear, about the kids we saw earlier in the day that could hike faster than me even though they were carrying heavy packs. I was mad at the bugs biting me. I was mad that I was sweaty. Seriously I was mad at EVERYTHING... which really was me being mad at myself for not being as strong or fast as I want to be. Yes, I can hike. Yes, I can be strong. But I'm not fast and I never will be. I really don't know why it bothers me so much, but it does. I'm pretty sure the older I get the worse my PMS gets. Or maybe I notice it more. It was such a contrast from how good I felt yesterday.Anyway, by the end of the day my feet were aching, my knees were sore and I was super relieved. But how could I be such a wreck after only 13 miles? GAH!We drove for a while looking for the Mountain Laurel Campground. We couldn't find it, so we asked two women who were out for a walk. The local woman said that it was right where we were, but it was no longer in operation. Doh! After some internet searching, we went back to Rock Creek. Now we're in site 14 instead of 12. Twelve had an abundance of millipedes. I was getting stuff out of the car and when I pulled my hand out I had several ants crawling on me! I moved some stuff and saw some eggs. I moved even more stuff and saw even more eggs!! The big ant egg prize was in Count's pack cover. So, we dealt with ant colony car for a while. It was exciting and not fun. Finally, we went down to pay for our site, and there were lights around the pond. I thought it would be nice to walk around, but a guy on the other side said there was a copperhead around that had just lunged at him. NOPE! We left.I was going to shower to wash away my bad attitude, but there are only skylights over the shower. I didn't want to shower in the dark. I have a zit and bug bites where my butt cheek meets my leg. Pain! And I have sores in the corners of my mouth that I assume are from salt build-up from sweating so much. They crack open when I smile or eat. OUCH! I'm so sick of being scared to make facial expressions. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for me. Sheesh!