Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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September 13, South Arm Road - mile 1921.7

Boy, it sure was hard leaving town this morning. I'm not sure why - one would think I'd be anxious to escape the news and get back to the woods. But my bed was soft and warm this morning when the alarm rang at 5, and I was still very, very tired, and thoughts of a zero day were strong. But I'm a bit pressed for time since the Whites and New England in general slowed me down much more than I expected, so I knew I had to get moving and back on the trail.

As usual, after a couple miles, I felt good to be out again, particularly because it was another gorgeous day and the trail was the nicest I've seen in a very long time. I even got into camp early tonight, at 4pm! The last mountain getting here was the toughest, but the trail club here has done a great job installing ladders and steel rings on the steepest rock faces, as well as a lot of stone staircases. I felt a bit like I was playing "chutes and ladders" all afternoon, but I was extremely grateful for the extra handholds and footholds.

I must confess that the temptation to go back into town tonight was very strong. I ran into a couple on the trail who were in town last night, too and they said that innkeeper of the place they stayed planned to be at this very road crossing at 4:00 to take any hikers in. The lure of a piece of chocolate pie at Addie's Place was strong...and the threat of rain tonight is very real... but I resisted! I didn't carry tonight's meal over all those mountains today just to put it in a hiker box in town! Darn it, I carried it and I'm going to eat it. And besides, that place doesn't offer morning shuttles until about 9am and I need to hit the trail by 6 these days or I can't make it into camp before dark. So I'm proud of myself for resisting the temptation, and as a reward I had mini chocolate Oreos dunked into hot chocolate for dessert tonight. They tasted just as good as Addie's pie, I swear. And as an added bonus, I'm going to sleep tonight at 7:00 so that I can get 10 hours of sleep for once. I have a monster mountain to climb tomorrow and I need to be ready for it!