Date: 2019-05-28
From: Bear Garden Hostel

To: Chestnut Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: clear sky

Uphill uphill, yeah yeah. Today was hot again. Almost brutally so. I organized my food bag in the morning and chatted with the owner for a bit. She told me she had only done 12-14 miles a day when she was on trail. She said she had pushed more and would be so wiped she¢d have to zero. It was helpful to hear and made me feel a bit better about my mileage situation, even though I can do longer days and not be fully wiped; it just depends on the day. I headed out and those two steep uphills were incredibly annoying. They were basically straight up. There was a down in between, but they were still a pain. I finally got to the big climb and was told it was gradual. It was not gradual. It was also straight up for at least three out of the five miles. I was dying from the heat. I actually stopped and cried halfway up from pure exhaustion. I was listening to podcasts to try and help, but I was just miserable. It was so hot and I was dehydrated and there was so much uphill. People think 10 miles a day is nothing, but when it¢s like this folks, it¢s like death. I was so drained. I finally made it up to this pond, 2 miles from the top. I stopped for water and went to go filter it all. I have the two bags now so I filled each and filtered them into my smart water bottles. I drank so much water just sitting there that I had to go back and filter it all again. I had also heard from the hostel owner that there was no water at the shelter I was headed to, so I carried 4 liters up there and clipped the two collapsible bags to the outside of my pack. I ran into two folks I didn¢t get the name of, but they were having a rough day too. The heat and the climbs will do it to you!! I was also thinking about my water situation and how silly I was when I started this journey. I used to carry 4 liters at a time every day because I thought I¢d need that much. It was silly and when I realized that one liter is 2.2 pounds, I was kicking myself. I now carry 2 at a time and filter whenever I run low. I hiked the two last miles up to the shelter. It was gradual now lol, but it was in a meadow and all exposed to the sun. I did listen to a good podcast though about music, and one about having no eyesight, but relying on sound to carry through an experience. Both were great to help me get up the climbs today, but it was still a rough day. I arrived at the shelter and there was a nice view. Sort of made it worth it? Haha. I found a nice spot in the tall grass to put my tent. I tried to put up a clothes line, but the wind blew it all down. My clothes were soaking wet from the sweat. I¢ve said it before and will again, but IT WAS HOT TODAY. Haha. I walked over and set up my food and water by the fire. Birdman and Yoshi and Eeyore were all trying to get the fire going, but having trouble. They eventually got it and it was a raging fire! Caboose was talking about yellow-blazing from Bland, VA tomorrow. We were all pretty wiped. Today was Birdman¢s first day with the brick in his pack, so he was struggling a bit too. We all sat around the fire and relaxed. We were talking about ticks and walking through so many meadows with tall grass. I was worried. I had ticks on my neck when I was younger from rolling in the grass with dogs, shock. My dad took them out and I do have a vivid memory of that process, even though I was young. Birdman made me all paranoid because he said ticks can crawl up your body when you¢re sleeping and bite elsewhere and you might not even know. I was freaked out because the last thing I would want is an undiscovered tick bite that turns into Lyme disease. I told him I was going to do a personal tick check in my tent and all the guys joked about my ¢silhouette¢ from my tent. Haha nothing to see here men. I¢m getting naked in my tent to check for ticks because I¢m incredibly paranoid. No silhouettes to be seen. Lol. A few folks showed up just before sundown. I had seen them before and so had Birdman and Caboose. It was Shake, Tag, and another girl I¢m blanking on. They were talking about 20 miles a day for the next few days and I was like well see ya never! But they were really nice and we had a good time chatting for a while. I didn¢t have to bother with my bear bag tonight because the shelter had a door and was high-up. We all just hung ours inside the shelter from the hooks. I went to do my tick check and the guys teased me. I couldn¢t see my back or butt so for all I knew I was going to die from a tick that night I was so paranoid. Lol. But I checked everything else and seemed to be good. I have a million bites on me and I itched so many into cuts that I have dark scabs all over my legs too and blood. But no tick bites as far as I can see? I¢ll have to butt-check when I have a mirror haha. Hopefully no butt-silhouettes occurred from my tent. Ugh what a rough day today. But it ended with great company and laughs and I am proud of myself for every day out here. Little Debbie