Day 35

I've never hiked a marathon before but today we broke that. 

Camping near the lake worked out perfectly for us. We had a nice tentsite and although a local, I swear, was burning rubber for half the night, I slept pretty good -- 50 degrees makes for great sleeping. 

We got on trail by 830 and the intention was to hike 26.3 miles to a campsite right before US 421 / low gap, and that's exactly what we did. 

The morning consisted of getting back to elevation, and by the time we had lunch at slightly before 12, we had only gone 8.5 miles. However, we had chipped away at roughly half our elevation for the day -- 2500 feet.

A day or two earlier when we were in the roans, I pointed out the ridge that we would walk all the way into Damascus. Now, at elevation, it was time for that ridge walk. 

Although it was a long day mile wise, it wasn't a hard day. We really did just walk the ridge. There were minor ups and downs, but compared to the smokies for example, it felt like we were walking on flat ground. 

At the junction with Tennessee 91 around 4:30, we only had 6.5 miles left on the day. Here, we had our first taste of some of the fields that we would soon be walking through in Virginia. We gained some elevation by walking through a pasture and enjoyed the surrounding mountain views. 

Around 7:30, we finally made it to camp for the day. It wasn't an ideal campsite, slightly uneven ground, but the fiery sunset and knowing we accomplished a long day, it was all worth it. 

Walker and I struggled to set up a bear hang, but after 20 throws, we finally got our bear line on a branch that worked. By 9:15, we had finished eating were in bed. 

Only 11.5 to the Virginia line! 

Daily recap: 
- Total miles hiked: 26.3
- From mile marker 429.6 to 455.9
- From watauga lake to .2 south of US 421 / low gap
- High temp: 55 and partly sunny
- Low temp (morning): 50 and cloudy
- low temp (tonight): 35 to 40 and cloudy
- Total ascent: 5,840 feet
- Total descent: 4,341 feet

WE HIT VIRGINIA TOMORROW!

Thanks for following along. 
Tyler M.

Comments

  1. E R Stick, JrMarch 28, 2024 at 4:29 AM

    so you must be close to where you can get a pony ride and pick up a few fast miles - good go on that 26.3 - wow! must be close to running

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 0

Good evening. We are now officially back on trail. And as for Spencer, he's on trail for the first time. It's good to be back! Our time line for the day was as follows: Woke up at 5:15  Started driving at 6:05 Left Kristina at 6:35 Met Walker and Spencer at 6:36 Learned that Walker left his phone with Ashley at 6:37 Ashley came back at 6:48 Checked a bag and got through security by 7:10 Finished breakfast by 7:45 Boarded at 8:00 Got on the runway at 8:10 Took off at 8:22 Landed at 10:33 Got picked up at 11:10 Got dropped off at amicalola at 12:50 Started hiking at 1:15 Finished hiking by 4:30 Had camp set up by 4:45 Finished the blog by: right now Before I start talking about the trail, the whole concept that we as humans just fly around in metal boxes and view it as completely normal is mind boggling. I know it's just physics and engineering but still, that fact that I was going 550 mph at 30k elevation is crazy.  Okay -- trail time. Walker and I both looked at each other
Read more

My Thoughts 1 Week Out

Hello again, Walker and I are going back on trail, and this time, Spencer is joining us too.  Truth be told, I've been in the process of writing this post for more than a year and I'm still not sure how I want to introduce my mindset going into this hike.  I'd say there are three emotions that have been top of mind for the last couple years: excitement, curiosity, and frustration.  Starting with the obvious, I'm overjoyed that I'm in good enough physical and mental health to do a thru hike. You never quite know what can change over the course of 4 years, and in reality, something unforeseen could happen any second. As I've mentioned time and time again (for those who know me well), being outdoors leaves me with an aura of wonder and superiority. Not that I am better than those that don't hike the AT, but that I am fundamentally doing something more valuable than I have been. And it's not exactly clear to me why that is. To a degree, even though this hike
Read more

Test Post

Testing for visibility. For anyone who sees this and plans to comment throughout the hike, please leave a comment below or make a profile so you can interact with the blog for the next 4 months. Posts of the hike will begin on the 20th or 21st of February since we officially begin on the 21st. Just to note, you don't need an account to view the blog, but if you want to comment at any point you'd need one I believe. Looking forward to sharing this journey with everyone.  Thanks,  Tyler.
Read more