Greetings from Erwin, TN, where I am currently wearing nothing but my rain gear and a pair of Crocs while typing on the Internet. Creepy, but sadly becoming rather commonplace around here. I'm spending the night at Uncle Johnny's Hostel, which is literally about 15 feet from the AT. I can hear all of you muttering to yourselves: "What, ANOTHER town day? Isn't she SUPPOSED to be hiking?" (Your grumbling makes me afraid to admit that I took advantage of the namesake of Hot Springs. Let me tell you- sitting in a hot tub near the river sipping on a beer is hard work, especially when you only have a lighter to open said beer.) Well, friends, I've gone about 70 miles since 5 pm on Saturday, and figure that I can use a bit of a break. Also, it was raining this morning, and I have to admit that I'm a little bit of a sucker for a dry bed in the rain (even if it's a dry bed with a plastic-coated mattress in a room that smells like feet).
The past few days have been challenging- not necessarily in terms of terrain or mileage, but in terms of temperature. (Granted, hiking nearly 20 miles per day for three days isn't easy, but it's doable.) Those of you who know me best know that I function well at colder temperatures... for those of you who don't know me well (hello, people on Twitter!), my temperature preferences can be summarized in a short list format: 1) I like snow, and 2) I normally live in New England, where it is cold. The hot temperatures... well, let's just say that I'm not that much of a fan. (This is one of the reasons why I wear a dress while hiking.) Somehow the temperature of the South in the Summer didn't factor into my planning and thinking about this trip (okay, fine, there wasn't all that much planning going on with regard to this trip), and two days ago when it started getting hot I realized that I might be in trouble. Yesterday I arrived at the shelter I had scouted out as a potential lunch spot in time for an early dinner and realized that I need to stop letting the temperatures slow me down so much, because if I'm struggling to make miles through Tennessee in April, I'm going to REALLY be struggling in Virgina in May.
Because of all of my lolly gagging, I had to hike at night to catch up with my group. My head lamp batteries were good (thank you for the reminder, Ivy!), and I saw a lot of interesting things, including multiple millipedes. It wasn't particularly frightening or scary, although I have to admit that I did pick up my pace a bit when I saw the patch of trees that had been clawed up by bears. Seeing the light of my hiking buddies' tents through the dark forest felt particularly good, as did the chill of the rain against my skin this morning. One of the things that has not felt good recently has been my hammock- I just can't seem to get comfortable at night. Sleeping on the AT so far has meant that I wake up a couple of times per night, but lately I haven't been able to fall asleep, and when asleep I tend to wake up just about every hour because I'm either too hot or too cold, or, as it turns out, completely scrunched up in a ball at the end of my hammock because I did a very poor job leveling it. A night on a bed (even one with a plastic coated mattress in a room that smells like feet) will do me well.
So that's the news from Erwin, Tennessee. I'm a month into this adventure, and am doing well (although I've got a new heel blister), eating well (thanks to my Aunt Lidia and my folks), and am feeling on top of the world (even though I'm only at 2,000 feet of elevation)!
Bree, Doug says, "hot is good; warm water is still water; smell the smells that the humidity brings out on the trail - the smell of earth, leaves, and rain." And, I say, quit smelling the feet of others and know that your own smell too! Still thinking of you hiking the AT!!!! Happy Easter!
ReplyDeletehi, im posting from the uk , its 3am, ive work tomorrow and again im not sleeping, in spirit im there , ive been thinking of this for a while, as well as other ideas like cycling from Seattle to San Francisco, people at work think im crazy, like im from another planet for even thinking these things, its great to read from some one on the trail actually doing it, it inspires me, thanks for posting, ill be following you on twitter and I will read you whole blog, sorry about the typos im trying to type one handed in the dark, thanks for doing the trip and thanks for posting about it
ReplyDeleteSarah Croft, Brighton UK