Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 3

29th July 2023
Hurd Brook Lean-to - Wadleigh Stream Lean-to (mile 38.2)
Daily miles: 19.6 miles
Total miles: 43.5

It was so hot in my tent last night and thankfully by the morning it had cooled down a lot and was measuring 21°C / 70°F halfway through the night I even pulled my sleeping bag over me and had my socked feet stuck out the end. I may be talking about the temperature a lot because I’m carrying a little thermometer!

I had the intention today of going a bit further than my new friends, and I was really sad to think about leaving them behind. If I hadn’t had such a tight goal, I would’ve definitely stayed with Lesley and Kevin for the 16 days they are hiking for before moving on. But it’s a toss up, isn’t it, between wanting to stay with people and wanting to achieve a goal, and this time I chose the goal. Hopefully there will be people that I stay in contact with. Plus. I wouldn’t have enough food to get me through the 100 mile wilderness if I stayed with them.

The goal is to do the Appalachian Trail in 100 days. Because I’m starting the trail fairly late in the season, I think I may end up spending a lot of time on my own so if I try for 100 days then I will get it over with quicker! But this will also mean that I will be moving at a faster pace than most other people so I won’t find anyone hiking the same pace as me. I do have a 2 week buffer incase this plan falls apart so I’m not putting myself under too much pressure.

John said some really nice things to me before I left and they were really important to me. I feel privileged to have had the time with such a nice group of people and I feel happy with the knowledge that they are all sticking together.

Hikers crossing a river on the Appalachian Trail southbound Maine — River crossing hopping from boulder to boulder

I set off about 07:30 and had the goal of getting between 20 and 23 miles down the trail. I walked fast and didn’t stop to take any breaks until I was 8.5 miles in; the goal was 10 but I was seriously flagging! I did this for 2 reasons: firstly to get about 20 miles in I knew I would have to walk without stopping, and secondly so my friends didn’t catch up with me, not because I didn’t want them to, but because if I saw them again I would be too tempted to stay with them!

I saw one NOBO and it was a nice walk through the forest. Some gentle ups but nothing too bad and the temperature cooled, by the time I got up to rainbow ledges it was a nice 17°C / 62°F. Very nice hiking weather and not too humid.

There were two NOBOs up there; I heard them long before I saw them. They were shouting and singing and probably smoking a joint from what I could smell, and they were celebrating because it was an awesome day on trail and they were nearly finished. As I got up to the top of rainbow ledges, one of the guys was peeing while singing, the other guy spotted me and I didn’t say anything, I just carried on walking. I came up quite close behind him and he was in hysterics at being caught peeing and singing. We had a good laugh about it.

I managed a pace of just under 3 miles an hour to get there which I was happy with.

I carried on through the forest, seeing about five more people going northbound. I didn’t stop speak to all of them. One of them was a flip flopper from Harpers Ferry.

Throughout the morning, I passed a few more northbound hikers some of them stop to speak, some of them don’t, which I don’t blame them for because you can’t stop to speak to every hiker you see. Most of them had that glazed look and that single focus in their eyes of getting to Katahdin. Some stopped and a nice chat.

By the time I was 8.5 miles in I was feeling a bit weary so I sat on a log and ate a packet of tuna to give me a boost, the bugs were not great but tolerable. It was about 11:15. My pace had dropped but that was to be expected. I had gone 8.5 miles in three hours 45 minutes, so not a bad pace really for my third day.

Multiple mosquito bites Appalachian Trail — A small selection of the many mosquito bites I have

View of river through trees Appalachian Trail southbound — Walking next to water is so much better than walking through water

As I lay here in my tent now writing this the day seems a bit of a blur. It was tough and continuous and relentless. There were a couple open spots with some nice views.

There were a few places which went steeply up and down. My feet hurt so I stopped to take off my shoes at around 14:30

I continued to see many northbounders and a few told me there were lots of SOBOs in front of me, one reckoned about 150. It will be nice to catch up with some of them.

I saw 3 British people today. They really are everywhere. More Brits than I’ve ever encountered on trail.

I lost my bandana. I don’t know what made me look to check if it was there, but something did. When I looked back down the trail I could see it draped on a bush.

I can’t think if anything else exciting happened today. I slipped and fell on my bum 3 times, but that’s pretty standard.

I resisted putting headphones in for most of the morning. I was happy with my own thoughts. My NOBO friends are here with me in spirit as I often see bits of trail which remind me of them. But when I started to flag again in the afternoon I put the Hamilton soundtrack on with the aim of walking without stopping or checking the mileage until it was over. I lasted about an hour and a half before I had to have a little sit and take the weight off my weary feet.

Airing wet feet on the Appalachian Trail southbound — Trying to dry my feet out

I also learnt that on Far Out (previously called Guthook) you can drop your own way point and I did it by accident at a campsite which wasn’t marked on the app. It was a good job I did that because I met 2 ladies who were just hiking the 100 mile wilderness and had done the last 80 miles over 7 days. They were asking if there was anywhere to camp before the next shelter and I said – well yes there is and I can tell you exactly how far it is. The trail provides for them today.

It might all look the same, but it is beautiful

It started to rain when I was about 2 miles from camp. A bit of drizzle at first and then hard enough to put my umbrella up. Those 2 miles really felt like they took forever. When I arrived at the shelter there were a whole bunch of people there and I said hello and they all just stared at me! I asked where the water was and the tent spots and a nice lady directed me to both while everyone else stared like I had just landed from space.

I pitched my tent as quick as possible, launched all my stuff in and just as I was sat staring into space the rain started really chucking it down. I made it just in time to not get completely soaked.

A tent pitched outside a shelter on the Appalachian Trail — Campsite for the night featuring a badly pitched wet tent

I didn’t even look to see if there was space in the shelter. There were so many people there and I’d already planned to camp. I asked if they were all NOBOs and one guy responded that they were. I told him I was pretty tired and today was tough, he responded by saying “you ain’t seen nothing yet”. I thought to myself “you haven’t climbed Katahdin yet”.

I tried to keep my hiking top on for as long as possible but I was getting a chill so took it off quickly and replaced it with my nice dry sleep top with fleece over the top. A bit different to last night when I was sweating in my tent in just my undies. I’m lying directly in the floor of my tent which is also making me cold but everything is throbbing and the need to lie down is strong. I don’t think I’ll need to set an alarm tomorrow because the people in the tent next to me said they are getting up at 05:15!

My thermometer says 20°C / 68°F but I feel chilly. I also feel sore. When I woke up this morning it was difficult to move any of my limbs; the day after the day after thing. It was a huge effort to turn my body from its back (where I think I slept all night without moving at all) to being on its side which was the only way I could get myself upright!

I cooked one of those dehydrated meals. I didn’t really like it, so I’m now using it as a hot water bottle.

Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 3 – Going Solo

29th July 2023

Hurd Brook Lean-to - Wadleigh Stream Lean-to (mile 38.2)

Daily miles: 19.6 miles

Total miles: 43.5

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