Make it count: Day #53

Monday, May 4 - Day #53 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 17.3
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 684.9/2,193 (31.23%)

Jennings Creek (758.5) to Harrison Ground Spring (775.8) - tent at Harrison Ground Spring

Total ascent - 5,951’
Total descent - 3,699’

Total States Completed - 1/14

**Rain Day (overnight rain into early this morning)

Absolutely HUGE day today! 17.3 miles - with 5,951’ vertical ascent. This is easily the largest ascent day I’ve done on the entire hike to date. It was OK - started at 7:30am and finished at 5:15pm — not a bad effort!

The last few days have been really cool. Myself, Chickweed, Amber, and 2 Cans have all been traveling together. We’re all here at the same camp again tonight. Hiking and hanging out with the same group has made this week 100 times more fun. We’re able to laugh at each other and give a little trouble to each other along the way.

I got out of camp first again (on purpose because all these guys are faster than me). Today was made of mammoth climbs. 1,000’ right out of the gates, then a 2,300’ climb around Mile #5, than another 1,000’ around Mile# 12. There were a bunch of smaller hills in between these climbs.

Chickweed and Amber caught up with me around Mile #5.5. We stayed together the rest of the day. 2 Cans is super fast - he only left the camp this morning around 10:30am and got to the camp tonight only an hour after us. Man - having that much speed is an awesome tool to possess for a multitude of reasons.

It’s been great hanging with Chickweed and Amber throughout the day. The hiking days have gone so much faster. They’re probably really good for me as well. They are completely free spirits - always positive - rarely (if ever) worrying about anything. It’s been a pretty funny dynamic. If you know me - I do my fair share of worrying and tend to be prepared and thoughtful about most things.

Let me give you an example today: we get into camp tonight, there’s a large rock near the fire ring where we’re putting up our tents. I go to check under the rock with my trekking poles for any snakes under there before sitting down. Amber goes: “What are you doing?” I let her know about the snakes. She was completely oblivious to the fact that snakes could be around logs or rocks - and it’s probably a good idea to check before sitting down on one. Chickweed and Amber thought this was hysterical. “Why would one ever do this?”

So many stories throughout the day were just how they live life “un-afraid”. Chickweed talks about the first time she ever camped on her own. It was in Denali in Alaska (grizzly country). She put up her tent. Then decided to just take a walk. She found herself in a berry patch eating away with headphones on blasting out music. When she got her fill - it was near dark and she had forgotten how to get back to camp. So - she just wondered around in the dark with her headphones blasting until she found it. She never worried - or even thought about - the possibility of seeing a grizzly. So many other stories that are so similar.

Bottom line is: Life is fantastic if you can walk around completely unaware of any dangers. Or - straight-up not caring. There is no doubt you will have more fun. I honestly wish I could be more like this. I am inherently more conservative. I know it - I admit it - I can laugh about it. There is this fine line — being completely oblivious usually works out —— until it doesn’t (but you certainly have more fun until it doesn’t). I know I can’t really change that dynamic about my personality. I’m pretty OK with it at this point in my life.

6 more days into Waynesboro, VA. I exchanged messages with the back country permit office of Smokey Mountain National Park today. I still don’t have my confirmed answer. It’s going to be a murky one - I already know. I asked them point blank if I can Thru-Hike the AT trail through the Smokey’s starting May 10th. There wasn’t a lot of room for interpretation with my question. Their response: “Call us back to talk about it”. Well - that’s great if you have cell coverage throughout a day - not so good when you’re hiking up/down mountains all day. I’ll keep persisting tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a resupply day in Glasgow, VA. It’s about a 12 mile day, then we’ll get a shuttle to town. Hopefully a nice meal and a warm place to stay will follow.

Here’s to a great day on the AT! How about a follow-up tomorrow.