Today was set to be a bit of a test day. We planned for our first 20 mile day since Damascus. And on top of that, there would be considerable climbing and descending. In other words, today was going to be tough. 

It was straight uphill when I left camp (well after everyone else. I’ve never not been a morning person so I can’t get over this, but it’s who I am now I guess.) I put on some music and climbed upwards. I thought I was moving pretty quickly but when I checked the app after walking for an hour, I was dismayed to see that I had barely kept a 2 mile per hour pace. 

But when I looked up from my phone, I saw good news. A sign that said trail magic ahead. And a warning that the trail magic dog was “overly friendly.” Not a bad combo! 

I sat with easy boy and Molly and chatted with Easy Boy (person) while Molly (dog) whined every time I stopped petting her. Easy boy is a West Virginian who drove over an hour to get here and give out free food. He had been a bit disappointed by the trickle of people coming in, but was still having fun. As I left I made my resolution, I’m going to start asking people why they do trail magic. I really appreciate it obviously. But what makes someone drive an hour to hand out oranges to smelly people? 

I continued on and my pace still stayed slow on the downhill. I wasn’t sure how to get myself to pick it up. But then I saw Gator-aide and Klutz off in the distance. They were the rabbit I needed. I put my head down and started to move. My poles and feet striking the ground with more purpose than they had been. My heart rate finally getting up high and sweat starting to drip down my face. In short, all of a sudden I felt good. 

I caught up to them and, after chatting for a few minutes (so I didn’t look like a complete psycho), bid them adieu and went back to charging up the hill. I flew. My pace was back where I expected it to be and I remembered how good it felt to fly. I started thinking about how much further and faster I could go. 

As I sat down at lunch and looked out over a pristine valley, I looked up the weather forecast. It was supposed to be sunny tomorrow but rain the next few days. When I looked at the map, I saw that two of the most famous AT landmarks were coming up: dragons tooth and mcaffee’s knob. I did the math, if I did a 25 mile day tomorrow, I could hit them both on a sunny day. 

I practically skipped into camp – feeling better than ever. I told Woodsman that we were doing 25 tomorrow and he just looked at me then went back to making his dinner. “Didn’t you hear me?” I asked. “25 tomorrow!”

He calmly looked up and explained, in detail, why my idea was a terrible one. We had just come back from being hurt. We hadn’t even done back to back 20s much less a 20 and a 25. It was unnecessary. And on and on. I argued with him for a minute but quickly realized he was right. It wasn’t worth pushing it for a potential photo op (even though it would’ve been a really cool photo op).

I went to go set up my hammock and by the time I came back, woodsman had a roaring fire going. I put a packet of ramen in the soaker and made myself a fried spam sandwich over the fire. 

Blue jeans and another guy who’s name I never caught came and joined us around the fire. “I never thought I’d see you two again!” Said blue jeans happily when he saw us. We told him of our injuries and he told us that he had just gotten over norovirus. I inched a bit further back from him. 

I’m back in hammock. This time laying next to a babbling brook to sooth me to sleep. 

Key stats:

Miles: 20

Elevation gained: 4,100

Mile marker: 690

25 mile days this week: 0