One of the views from today's hike.
The beard is coming in nicely.
Long hike today, 20 miles is no joke. I will definitely reduce my miles tomorrow, I don't want to hurt myself this early in my hike.
Last night at Blue Mountain Shelter turned out very nice. I met one fellow thru hiker and six other people. I hope they forgive me that I'm terrible with names, but they were just cool people to be with. They were friendly, I learned some new cooking techniques for the trail, and before I left they gave me and my fellow thru hiker some very much appreciated trail magic! If you guys are radio this, I just want you to know that I really appreciate the camaraderie we shared around the camp fire last night, all the stories and conversations, and the trail magic--it all made my hike today that much better! Thanks a lot, and God bless!
The hike started out at 57F with fog and a prediction for rain. I put my pack cover on and my rain jacket on just to be safe--and to be warm. It ended up not raining, but it did stay relatively cool most of the day. Though, I will admit, going up hills will warm you up quickly. Fortunately my rain jacket breathes so the sweat on me could dry. There were several uphill sections where I really just wanted to stop and catch my breath, but I pushed through, slowly, to get through them. I promised myself a drink of water when I reached the plateau of the uphill as incentive to keep going. I had not originally intended to walk as far as I did. I had talked about wanting to, but I wanted to be realistic about the distance and the elevation. There were two things that sold me on it: 1) I got to the first shelter so early that there was no way I was staying there nine hours before it got dark, 2) I passed several people who highly recommended this hostel. And I will say, if you hike the AT, you NEED to stop at this hostel! It is awesome! I got here, paid my $20, and they gave me a towel, a laundry basket and a set of blue scrubs, then I ordered a coke and 2 x 10" supreme pizzas. I walked to the bunk room, threw my smelly hiking clothes I the laundry basket and jumped I the shower. Before I finished my shower, the host brought my pizzas and coke over. I are both pizzas, drank the coke and then went over to the main room. The host set up a hot Epsom salt footbath with marbles in it to roll your feet on and then gave a short presentation on how to have a successful hike. He should know, he has through hikes the AT, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. It was a very good presentation that encompassed some of the things I have figured out on my own, and gave me some pointers for a few other things. Like I said, hike your own hike, but don't be afraid to ask for opinions from people who have hiked the trail before. It doesn't mean you have to take their advice, but it might point you in a direction you weren't thinking of before.
So, it's late and I guess I should get some sleep. Breakfast in the morning then back on the trail.
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