Bud and Vicki Hogan's 1996 Appalachian Trail Journey
May 28
Plum Orchard Shelter to Standing Indian Shelter ....................................12 miles
We got up in the morning and started the ritual of taping our blisters. They had crept up on us over the previous week, one by one. The blisters were really not to bad on me, and if I kept them taped they were no problem. Vicki didn't have it so good. She lost two toenails and had blisters in several places. She hadn't broken in her boots before we started the hike. I had begun to break in mine. We used the two sock system. A liner, then thick wool socks. This helped. Without the thick wool and the liners I know that my feet would be hamburger. My feet were really hurting. Not just my calves, but my feet. It has to be the weight of my pack. But the pack isn't that heavy. Oh, well.
Had our normal oatmeal breakfast. Noticed Tom (F) eating cold cereal with powdered milk mix. Looked pretty good. I never really liked oatmeal that much, and I was really starting to hate it. Mental note, remind myself to buy some powdered milk, and cereal in our first town. We exchanged addresses and said goodbye to the Tom's. These guys help give hiking a good name. Before we left, Tom (W) gave us the rest of his jerky. We gratefully accepted, again. It was great. He told us about the special sauce he uses to make it and the one place in the world it is possible to buy the sauce.
Hit the trail. The Toms headed south, we headed north. North to the Ga-NC state line. What a milestone. Our second state. Out of Georgia at last. Would it be any easier, like everyone said? We hiked under our first quarter mile-long rhododendron bower-just beautiful, even if they weren't in full bloom. Great weather.
Sure enough. The trail was better, just lots of roots to get over. Made it to the shelter. We had Standing Indian Shelter all to ourselves that night. We put up the tent in the shelter again. I made a water run. Another habit. I am always the one to go for water. I get water in the morning just after breakfast, so we start off with full bottles. Then I get water at night so we have enough for our evening meal and breakfast the next morning. We carry 2 quarts each, every day. We generally have over a quart left when we get to a water source, but I would rather have water left over than to need it in this summer heat.
Vicki made a midnight run then stumbled coming back into the shelter. I mean literally stumbled and fell right onto the tent. Bent one of the aluminum poles. This is just great. The bend is not too bad. The pole still works. This was the last midnight run for Vicki, she learns not to drink too much water after 6:00. She's half blind and has a hard time navigating without her contacts in. Yes, she brought her contacts, solution and other periphernalia with her. Not my last midnight run. I have a bad problem and sometimes have to make a couple of runs each night. In our other bigger tent, I can just stand up, unzip the window flap and let 'er fly, but not so with this trail tent. It's a problem that I live with.
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