Samwise Hikes the Appalachian Trail! - Trail Journal -
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May 29, Bailey's Gap Shelter - mile 640.9

Today I stopped four times in my first two hours of hiking to let critters go across the trail in front of me. First was a tiny red salamander, then a toad, followed by a snake that I first thought was dead. When I nudged him to be sure, he suddenly came alive & puffed up to twice his size before he slithered away. And the last wildlife sighting was two small game birds of some kind, possibly grouse chicks or maybe quail. There were extremely well camoflouged in brown & white. I nearly stepped on the first one, & then after I stopped to watch it, it took me a couple more minutes until I saw the second one.

After the excitement of critter encounters, I then went on to slip & slide my way over a rocky section of trail that was still very wet from last night's rain. Before I hardly knew what was happening, my left foot slid out from under me as I put my weight down on one of the rocks, and I found myself doing the splits, with 40 pounds of extra weight on my back adding to the momentum. I finally stopped my free fall when my right knee smacked down onto the rock, OUCH There I was, balancing on one knee with the other leg splayed out in front. Nothing to do but to get up & keep moving, so that's what I did, even though that knee has hurt extra bad for the rest of the day. I'm pretty sure I haven't inflicted any permanent damage, but I plan to keep an eye on it for a while & continue my plan of fairly short & slow days.

May 30, Laurel Creek Shelter - mile 655.5

I feel so tired, I can hardly keep my eyelids open long enough to set up came, get water, cook supper, clean up, plan tomorrow & write in my journal. I'm keeping them peeled for signs of additional arrivals, though, which may inspire me to set up my tent. We had the ill-fated experience of sharing a shelter two nights ago with a pair that I affectionately call "crude" & "lewd". Yesterday they quit early & stayed at the shelter 4 miles back from us, which we were thrilled about, but I continue to have nagging suspicions that they will join up again tonight. If so, I am definitely setting up my tent. I prefer to spend my evening without the gaseous emissions, belching, smoke rings in my face & dog barking all night.

Even though today was a short 14 mile hike, I feel as thought I hiked about 24. There were two big climbs - the first 500 feet and the second one was over 1200 - plus two thousand foot drops after each climb. None of it was particularly steep, but it was rocky & I guess hiking on rock edges all day makes for really sore feet. But there were also two beautiful overlooks today (at the top of each of those climbs) & it was really nice to be able to look down into the valley & think "I hiked up here".