Make it count: Day #75

Tuesday, May 26 - Day #75 - AT Hike

Miles Hiked Today - 15.3
Total Miles Hiked on AT - 1002.6/2,193 (45.72%)

Whiskey Hollow Shelter (987.3) to Sam Moore Shelter (1002.6) - tent at Sam Moore Shelter

Total ascent - 3,379’
Total descent - 3,696’

Total States Completed - 3/14

**No rain. Really great weather again today. It did get warm in the afternoon - reaching nearly 80 deg (feels a lot warmer coming from cooler temps)

——————

ONE THOUSAND- 1,000 - ONE THOUSAND - 1,000 - ONE THOUSAND

“MILES HIKED ON AT”

I can’t believe it!!! 1,000 miles completed on the Appalachian Trail in 75 days. I feel really encouraged by reaching this milestone. It’s been an incredible journey so far - filled with so many challenges and obstacles along the way. I called my mom today and she walked with me via FaceTime over the 1,000 mile marker (unfortunately there wasn’t any major fanfare or anything - no specific rocks to signify the threshold —— I might have missed them - but I was looking)

So tomorrow will mark my last full day in Virginia. I’m planning to go 14.3 miles tomorrow - which leaves me with 9.1 miles into Harpers Ferry on Thursday. On Thursday - I will complete Virginia - begin West Virginia - and just about complete West Virginia — all in the same day. West Virginia is only about 6 miles. I have to cross the Potomac River to get into Maryland when I start hiking again on Saturday morning (after my planned Zero on Friday) to officially complete West Virginia.

Today turned into a pretty challenging day with the heat this afternoon. My body just needs to get acclimated to higher temps. Highs were only around 80 degrees - but it still felt smoking hot.

Today I got into a section called “The Rollercoaster”. It’s a 12-mile section of just continuous steep climbs and descents. I did about half of it today in the heat - I’ll finish up the next portion right out of the gates tomorrow (at least it will be cooler). After “The Rollercoaster” - it’s pretty smooth sailing into Harpers Ferry. I could try for the 24 miler to get there tomorrow - but I’m purposefully trying to use this 53-mile section to rest/heal the body a bit. I’ve been able to ice my feet each night and let them air out.

So Empty Space and I are here tonight - along with 2 couples that just started their thru-hike within the past 2 weeks. Both of them are flip-flopping by going to Maine now - then coming back to go Virginia to Georgia. I had dinner with one of the couples - a 61 and 62 year old. Laura and Mosey. Laura is a nurse practitioner and Mosey just retired last year. These guys were great! Funny - interesting! Laura’s read 10 books on the AT and she’s been making her husband Mosey do training classes everyday. They postponed their thru-hike because of Covid-19. Mosey said he was begging his wife to start the trail - he was tired of training. They had a million questions - which I happily answered the best I could. I’ll tell you - I’m definitely happy I’m hitting the 1,000 mile mark vs. the 50 mile mark.

Unfortunately Jet was having more pain in his leg today. He ended up only going about 8 miles and staying at the shelter I passed early in the day. He’s actually going to get off trail tomorrow to rest up so he can attempt the Smokey’s with Empty Space. I wish him the very best - an injury is no fun. I’m not sure I’ll see those guys again after they head for the Smokey’s.

Well - going to sign off for now. I’m trying to start a pattern of getting up earlier and on the trail before the heat gets too bad. I have been leaving camp pretty consistently by 7:30am the past month - I’ve moved this up to 6:45-7am recently - with the goal of being on trail by 6am in the near future. I usually have about 1 hour of tear down and morning chores before I head out of camp - so a 5am wake-up is coming soon in my future. 5am is not bad - it’s just hard to tear down sometimes in the dark and trying not to make too much noise if tents are nearby. I’ll figure it out.

Good night from the middle of “The Rollercoaster” in the very northern section of Virginia!