Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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May 3, Whistling Gap, mile 325.3

    For the first time, I'm actually camped totally by myself on the A.T. It's a very enjoyable experience too! I can answer natures call without worrying about visitors, I can monopolize the spring and not make room every 5 minutes for some one else to get water, and I can pitch my tent and hang my bear bag anywhere I please. The downside is that I'm the only one around for the bugs to eat. I've definitely got to employ my own personal bat colony before these things eat me alive.

    Today was another hard day, in a week of hard days. For the third day in a row, we had to make a 6 mile uphill climb. I was huffing and puffing my way up the first mile or so and thinking all kinds of negative thoughts, when suddenly I got disgusted and started yelling at the trail. I said "Darn it, you stupid hill! If you think you can keep me from reaching Katahdin, you got another thing coming!" And with that I started power - poling my way up that endless steep monster and 3 hours later I was at the top, enjoying the view for miles around.

    So I guess it felt good mentally to get that out of my system, but physically I'm still struggling. My knees are as painful as they've ever been and today that welt on my ankle was extremely painful, too. I wish I knew what it was - it's not discolored like a bruise but it seem like a very strange thing for a muscle to do, too. It does seem to be connected somehow to my calf muscle, which is really sore too. Tonight I'm trying to massage it like crazy to see if that might help.

    Oh no! I hear voices! It can't be - not people to share my campsite! I think I know who it is, actually, and I have a feeling they're trying for more miles today than this spot. Most everyone I know has headed on to the next shelter, so that they can get into Erwin early tomorrow. From that shelter, it's only 6 miles, instead of the 13 that I will have to hike. But I'm not in a rush and my parts hurt too much to do that today. Instead I think I will go to bed early (no one to keep me awake) and get up very early to start hiking. If I do that, I may still be in by noon time. Yes, I was right about my comrades - they're headed on.

    I had another wonderful experience with Trail Magic today. Just 3 miles after leaving the shelter this morning, the trail came to a fairly major road crossing. Just before we got out of the woods, there was a cooler on the side with some chocolate snacks and lots of sodas, with a sign saying they were provided by "Miss Janet" of Erwin, TN. The sign also says she'll provide free shuttles from anywhere in Erwin, which is pretty awesome since I read that it's a very spread-out town. Maybe I'll get a chance to meet her in the next couple days.

   

May 4, Uncle Johnny's Hostel, Erwin, TN

Well, I saw the moon set and the sun rise this morning, although they were about 2 hours apart. Both were incredibly beautiful, too, bright blazing orange and red. What a sight to crawl out of my tent at 4:30 and see that orange ball dropping into the trees. Then I had to work by starlight to break camp and I was on the trail by 5:30. Although it ruins one's night vision, I used my headlamp for about 20 minutes, because I was climbing a steep hill with a lot of rocks and roots and had so do some tricky rock negotiating. After that it was a lighter shade of dark, and I could manage my way without the lamp.

    Hiking that early scared a lot of deer from their early morning feeding. At least I assumed all the noises were deer. I couldn't see the first two, but it sounded like deer. As the day went on, I saw five others, too. Pretty fun.

    Beyond those highlights, I had a pretty tough day again. My calf hurt from the very first step today and as the miles went on and the pain only grew worse and worse, I became concerned that I need to get a doctor's opinion on whatever is happening in my leg. Once I got to the hostel - primarily by sheer willpower - I called my doctor back home to ask her advice. Should I be icing or heating or both? Massaging or wrapping? She asked me a lot of questions, from her cell phone while negotiating traffic, and then said I'd definitely better get to the doctor here in town. Probably all I've done is over used my muscles, but possibly I could have a blood clot which is pretty serious. So tomorrow I plan to make a trip on down into town - I know there's a hospital here, so I should be able to get some advice there.