Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 33 – It’s getting hot and sweaty
28th August 2023
Lambert Ridge (422.1) - NH Route 120 (441.8)
Daily miles: 19.7
Total miles: 448.7
A few things that I’ve been meaning to write about but not sure if I have mentioned yet…
– The smell of my backpack straps is so gross. Especially bad when it’s hot and I’m sweating, the smell really intensifies then.
– How sore my hands are in the morning. I wake up and it’s hard to bend my fingers without pain. I think it’s because I’m gripping my trekking poles so tightly. I can tell they are swollen because my ring it wedged on with no chance of getting it off.
– There has been less unsolicited advice from the NOBOs. Since we have left the whites the fear mongering has completely stopped. Now it’s just a friendly hello rather than “you have no idea what’s ahead of you!!” – which is nice.
– The 100 day thing is out the window I would have to do over 26 miles a day from now to achieve that and I don’t think that’s possible. Not if I want to hike with other people, take my time in some towns and enjoy myself. I’m ok with it. It’s not that important to me. People are more important.
– Knees. My knees are so sore and it’s nice to know that’s not just because I’m getting older. Cal’s knees are sore and he’s 16 years my junior. I’m not happy that Cal has sore knees but I am happy that it’s not just me.
So, back to this morning…
I slept well. It was a nice temperature, not as hot as last night so it was easier to sleep. I woke up kind of late compared to previous days and was out of camp around 7am. Cal will always leave later than me because he hikes faster and doesn’t need as much time!
The morning sun
There were some nice views over the mountains with the clouds sitting low in the valleys. The mosquitoes were horrific and it was impossible to stop because they would all land on you, so stopping to get water was a pain in the ass and meant I would most likely spend the day dehydrated!
I love low hanging clouds (when I’m above them)
A beautiful morning
I went up the first climb and it wasn’t significant but it was sweaty and humid and buggy. Descended to a field before a road and there was some kind of civilisation on the other side and that made me think ah we are on the AT proper now… road crossings and dwellings.
Down to civilisation
Across roads
I slogged my way up to Moose mountain and there were some nice views on the way up. At the top Cal caught up to me and we sat and ate some food and discussed the trail ahead before I carried on. The orange signs in this section are great!
The orange signs really pop
Back above the clouds
Bog boards
The forest has changed
Little fungis
Moose Mountain north peak
It was a nice cruisey walk to Moose Mountain south peak, then a descent which brought me out to a field with these tall yellow flowers and the whole area was alive with bugs. You could hear the Cicadas and the amount of bees, all different types, was amazing. I particularly liked the ones with the orange balls on their legs which I can only assume is their collection of pollen. I tried to get a little video but when I stopped I was completely surrounded by bugs which was grim.
One of the best signs on the trail
Views from Moose Mountain south peak
Not sure what I’m trying to do here!
Open trail
Fields of gold
These bees are so cool
I also got my first glimpse of autumn with one tree in particular which had bright red leaves; it’s going to be so pretty going further south.
Autumn is coming
There was a lot of mud on the trail today. And although most of it was avoidable or just firm enough to walk on because it’s drying up, where there was stagnant mud there was whole load of mosquitoes. I can’t tell how many times I’ve been bitten today but it’s a lot, especially around the backs of my knees.
I had to stop and get some water and I tipped a bottle of it over my head too and wiped my face. Very sweaty today. I also wet my sweat rag. Partially because it was a bit stinky and partially so I could drape it around my neck and cool myself down.
I also had to stop to adjust my shoes. I’m struggling with a lot of pain on my right foot around the little toe joint. So I decided to take the insoles out of my shoes and it made a big difference. One difference was that it took the pressure off the outside of my right foot and the other difference was that they felt very weird and I’m actually not sure if they were uncomfortable or not.
The mud got worse and there were big patches of it where it really really stank. It was hard to balance on a tiny log while mosquitoes were going for the ears and eyes but that was just what I had to deal with. I didn’t stop for miles.
There was a small bit of intense uphill right at the end of the day which got me really sweaty just in case I wasn’t uncomfortable enough!
Nice smooth trail
Boardwalk through some marshy land
I came to the junction of the shelter which was just 2 miles from town. The plan was to camp just outside of town, get into town early and hang out there for a while and then hike out of town again so we didn’t have to stay the night. But the water for the shelter was no where to be seen. I went on a little hunt for it but gave up and as I was wandering around not sure what to do, and not wanting to climb up the steep hill to the shelter where reports are that the privy is full to the top, Cal appeared. I asked if he fancied going to town and staying with a trail angel, so we text one and then carried on walking the 2 miles to town. As a back up we would stealth camp near the road.
We didn’t hear back from the trial angel but that wasn’t a problem because there were a bunch of stealth sites behind the sports field about 0.2 from the road and there were already a few tents set up there.
We pitched our tents and then went to the supermarket. A big fancy co-op supermarket. I really wanted some real food, like a nice big sandwich or something hot but we were there too late. We were in there about 6:40pm and they closed at 7pm so everything was closed down and finished and we didn’t have long to make decisions. I got a tub of spinach and artichoke hummus, a bag of kettle chips and a bottle of chocolate milk - a fancy one in a glass bottle - which I had been craving since being unable to get one on my zero day.
We decided to go to the gas station next door to get drinks because it would’ve been cheaper but they were closed so with only 5 minutes before co-op closed we ran back to get some water, which was the main reason we didn’t stay at the shelter. I didn’t actually get water I got a mango flavoured Vitamin Water which would do until tomorrow. When we left the store it had started to rain and we just made it back to our tents without getting too wet and before it got dark.
I sat in my tent and nailed the whole pot of hummus and bag of chips. Not the real food I had hoped for but it was good nonetheless. I downed the chocolate milk and half of the water and I have no doubt I will have to get up in the middle of the night to pee. Although I am very dehydrated so maybe I won’t.
Dinner!
I am so sticky and gross tonight that I change into my sleep top. Until now I’ve just been going to sleep in my hiking top because it’s one less thing to do and night and one less thing to do in the morning. But tonight my hiking top feels so stinky and disgusting that I have to take it off. In previous thru hikes it’s always been the first thing I did - take of my hiking top as soon as I got to camp. Funny how things change.
It’s been raining steadily for about 3 hours now but we are quite sheltered amongst the trees.
