Miles Hiked Today - 19.2
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 891.2/2,193 (40.64%)
Calf Mountain Shelter (872.0) to Loft Mountain Campground (891.2) - tent at Loft Mountain Campground
Total ascent - 4,310’
Total descent - 3,496’
Total States Completed - 3/14
**Rain Day - very windy and overcast all day. Rain periodically throughout the day. The biggest rain was from 5-8pm - when I was setting up tent and eating dinner
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Pretty solid effort today - 19.2 miles with 4,310’ vertical ascent. I’ve been told by many folks that the Shenandoahs can yield big days. I can mostly concur with that so far - we’ll see what’s in store for me. The reason for the larger mile potential - the course is very smooth (not technical) and the hills are very gradual (not crazy steep). Again - I’ve only been here 2 days with 5 days to go - so I’ll give it some time
Today was really windy, overcast, and cold. High temperatures couldn’t have reached 50 degrees. My breaks were short so the cold didn’t have time to set in. On the positive side - the rain held off most of the day until I got into camp. Also - with such windy and cold conditions - no bears were out. The Shenandoahs are known to be the #1 bear spotting location on the entire AT. I was constantly singing and banging my poles together all day. I must have sang “The Gambler” like 20 times. The trail is very narrow and curvy in lots of places - going through some dense cover. It’s bear haven - and you could easily walk up on one if they were on the trail.
I wish I had people with me. I saw nobody all day long. The Hostal caretaker mentioned they took a group of 4 hikers early on Monday (whereas I started at noon). Hopefully I can catch up to them. There was also supposed to be a couple people starting this morning from the Hostal - I’m just in the middle of nowhere right now. Both sets of my Tramily are 3 days in front of me now. Once they go back to the Smokey’s - they’ll be 5-6 days behind me again. It’s harder than you think to catch up to people. If you’re still out here after 800+ miles - everybody tends to have similar strategies on how to attack various sections.
I’ve been eating nonstop. I think I went overboard on my resupply and I need to lighten the load. I’m hoping to never go more than 4 days before resupply in the future. It’s just too much stuff to carry otherwise. I bet my pack is 10-12 pounds heavier than my last day in the Smokey’s. If you average 2 pounds of food per day - that’s 14 pounds for 7 days. Plus - this morning - all my gear was wet (rain fly, bearbag, my clothes from yesterday) - the extra water weight on these items also added weight. And the final kicker this morning - the next water location after leaving my shelter was 13.4 miles away. This meant I started the day carrying 3 liters of water - when I normally carry about 1/2 of that amount. At least it was cool conditions or I probably would have carried 5 liters. Bottom line - I was carrying lots of weight today.
My body is hanging in there. My feet are sore, bruised, and swollen each day. The heel pain is definitely better however with the Dr Scholl’s inserts. Both knees are going through a little pain. It usually hurts early and I can walk it off. Shoulder is aggravating - I can’t go more than 2 hours without taking the pack off (sometimes it’s less than that).
Here’s to finding some people to talk with tomorrow. Here’s to a safe & healthy day!
Late afternoon
This was an open, wide trail
Looks like the Smokey’s
My campsite from last night. Some people had left beer cans, boxes, etc here — not cool
Here’s that tight corridor
Misty rain
Final climb of day
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