Make it count: Day #25

Day #25 - AT Hike

Monday, April 6 - Day #25 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 15.8
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 278.5/2,193 (12.70%)

Stealth Camp near USFS 230 (353.6) to tent site (369.4)

Total ascent - 4,218’
Total descent - 3,802’

Total States Completed - 1/14

Big effort today! 15.8 miles with a 4,218’ total ascent. My feet were telling me about it the last couple miles. Inevitably - the last 30 minutes or so of the day things always start to hurt. Your mind is telling your body the stress is almost over. The body starts to shut down a bit early. It’s hard to maintain that focus all the way home.

Really quiet day out there. I was never able to catch up with Maddy, Pepper & Cascade. If they did what they planned yesterday - I can’t believe they’re even walking today. The mountains I climbed before lunch were LARGE (and they did these at the end of their hike yesterday)

The morning was tough - but the afternoon was pretty relaxing. I put in my headphones and the time flew by. I ran into Fire God about a mile before I got to camp. We talked a bit while I was collecting water. He said: “Have you come up with a trail name yet?” I said: “Nope - nothing really sticking yet”. He said: “I was thinking of calling you Mr Clean - you always look so put together and clean all the time”. Me: “Yeah - I don’t think I like that one very well”

So - let’s talk about this for a minute. Yesterday - when I saw the group starting off from Erwin, Maddy said: “Man - you just look so clean”. At the time I thought it was a little strange - but I was in fact pretty clean at the time. Just off my Zero - showered, clothes laundered, etc. If a girl calls you “so clean” - how should one take that? ——— But then today - Fire God says the same thing at the end of the hike. “Mr Clean” —- what a terrible thing to be called. No dude wants to be called “Mr Clean”. Now starting on the defensive line for the Pittsburgh Steelers (steel curtain) - we have Mean Joe, LC, Ernie, and “Mr Clean”. Let’s say your in a foxhole in wartime - your platoon leader is barking out the orders: “Bubba - you, Meat, Bullets, IronGut, and “Mr Clean” - take left flank”. If you’re going out with a new girl - she goes to Happy Hour with her friends - they’re all asking: “So - tell me about this new guy your dating”. The first thing she says is: “Well - he’s really clean”. After an awkward 30 second blank stare from all her friends - one of them surely states: “So - he’s kind of a tool - you don’t like him very much?”. Its safe to say being labeled “Clean” is never good for a dude. Try it out at work tomorrow - just go over to somebody and tell them they look really clean today. After waking tomorrow - I’m fully intending to do a mud dive and then rub some dirt on my face - we’ll see what happens

I have another pretty big effort planned for tomorrow- we’ll see how it goes. I only have 26 miles until Roan Mtn where I’m staying in a hotel on Wed night. The more miles I do tomorrow - the earlier I get there Wed. I’m not taking any down time - just an overnight - so getting there early would be nice. Big ascents await tomorrow however - I’ll see how my body holds up.

Good night from a guy who never wants to be called - “Mr Clean”