Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
	Home	| Updates	| Map	| Journal	| Photos	| Resources	| FAQ

May 18, Raccoon Branch Shelter - mile 505.8

Today we passed the 500 mile mark: it's amazing how fast the time is flying. Even though I still have 1600 miles left to go - I feel like it will be over too soon.

I hiked too far today & now I'm paying for it with very sore knees, sore calf muscles & feet that are beginning to blister in my new shoes. As usual, I did not intend to come this far but here I am anyway. When I set out this morning, the plan was to go to a campground at mile 14. Max & I had heard that the campground was closed to car camping right now but that hikers could stay there for free, instead of the usual $14 fee. As I was going down the mountain just before the campground trail, I started meeting a lot of day hikers. It was only after they had all passed me that I began to wonder where they were all coming from, since I couldn't recall a parking area up ahead on the trail. I conferred with a couple other thru-hikers who had asked one group where they started & they said "the campground". So we all concluded that it must be open again for regular campers. I wasn't about to pay $14 for a tenting spot, even if a shower did come with the deal! Especially since I just left Damascus this week, where a bunk & hot shower were only $3. And I didn't want to hike an extra mile for find out.

Unfortunately, once I passed by the campground, my only real choice was to go another 4 miles to this shelter. They were fairly easy miles, though, so I'm grateful for that. I'm still hoping that Max will pull in tonight, even though I know this was a lot farther than she wanted to go, too. Everyone else that I left Damascus with seems to be going a bit slower, which is very unusual. I am expecting them to catch up tomorrow at the next shelter, which is only 13 miles from here. It's got a shower in it, plus it's close to a town and a road, and you can actually get a pizza delivered there. Nothing like being out in the wilderness, eh?!