Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 4 – Mice are worse than bears
30th July 2023
Wadleigh Lean-to - Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to (mile 59.7)
Daily miles: 21.5
Total miles: 65
I lay down last night and that was it, I was asleep until 4am when the person in the tent next to me started rustling packets. I had done nothing. Not cleaned my teeth. Not been for a wee. Not drunk any of the water that I had planned to. Not put my food bag away…
When I woke up I still didn’t really need a wee, but my body didn’t feel quite as much as though it had been slammed by a truck and it was a little easier to peel myself off the mat, which was nice. Everything was still really sore, just not as sore as it was yesterday.
Cosy in my new Sambob fleece
16°C / 60°F this morning.
As I was packing up I noticed a big hole in the side of my tent where something had chewed through it. Great! Right next to where my food bag was which was touching the side of the tent because I fell asleep before I could put it away. So I might have had a mouse or something roaming the inside my tent last night. Thankfully the hole was patchable with some tenacious tape. The food bag was zipped up thankfully and I think the new food bag I have is critter proof so my food is safe.
Hole in my tent probably from a mouse
These mini scissors are perfect
Hole patched with tenacious tape
Procrastinating rather than putting away a wet tent
An addition to my kit this year is this tiny pair of scissors. In the past I have always taken a small multi-tool and never used it, apart from the scissors with are always rubbish on a multi-tool. So these little scissors are lighter and more useful.
I’m beginning to think this trip is going to be more challenging than I thought. Plus the inside of my pack smells like something has died in it – I’m using all the same kit I used in 2018, with a couple of exceptions, and I think it (hopefully) has one more trail left of use in it.
I packed up quickly. It absolutely poured with rain last night so I was packing up a wet tent. There were only 2 people left in camp this morning and there were loads of people there last night. The couple were really nice; the lady was one of the only ones who spoke to me last night. The guy said he thought it was funny that when I asked the person who’s tent was next to the only remaining pitch if it was ok to pitch next to him (just to be polite really) he mumbled something and when I asked if that was a yes the rest of the camp cried yes at the same time, all probably sensing I was on the edge at that point!
It rained heavily in the night
An excellent privy
Overgrown trail
I went off to use the privy and then I was on my way. I was anticipating a relatively easy day because it was a lot of flat on the elevation profile but oh how wrong I was! Of course flat trail does not mean smooth trail and the first part was so tough because it was down hill which I usually love but my thighs were still really unconfident and weak, although it’s getting slightly better each day. I can reach back for my water a little easier now.
At 08:30 I saw my first NOBO which meant I no longer had to sweep the cobwebs.
The green tunnel
Squirrel
Views through the trees
Swampy trail
Bog boards
A rare bit of clear trail
It was so rooty and so rocky and it alternated between mud and bog board and stream crossings. After about 3 hours I realised I was under a 2 mile an hour pace which was annoying because I thought I was moving quicker than that.
The trail dipped in and out of the shores of Nahmakanta lake and when I stopped for lunch I had only done 9 miles in 5 hours.
Shores of the lake
I would have taken a dip but I dont’t like being wet
Honestly I’m not sure what else to say about today. It was fairly brutal. I ran into a few NOBOs but there were fewer than I was anticipating. There were 2 lots of 3 hours where I saw no one at all. I am yet to see a SOBO but I’ve been told there are lots of them out there and there are a bunch about a day ahead of me.
I love the light coming through the trees
I had to cross about 4 significant rivers. At one crossing I watched a northbounder leap over from big boulder to big boulder. Thankfully he didn’t stick around to see me making a right hash of it and clinging from rock to rock on my hands and knees. I made it across with dry feet though.
The last one I crossed (it’s always the last one of the day) I didn’t have a way of getting across with dry feet so I just went for it in my shoes; I couldn’t be bothered to fanny around. There was a NOBO on the other side in his sandals and he stood in the water and made sure I got across safely, which was since of him.
The rocks I was clinging to
Love to see a log bridge
I got wet feet on this crossing
Again, some people stopped to chat most people didn’t.
There were a few nice bits of trail which were smoothish (at least compared to the rest of the trail) and they were nice to walk on. But most of the day was rock hopping or trying not to break an ankle or leg on tree roots.
The bugs were really something else today too. They weren’t interested in the backs of my knees and arms like them have been, they were going for the tops of my ears, the tops of my shoulders and most irritatingly of all my eyes; so many flew into my eyes. Also the top of my head. I squashed so many mosquitoes on my head that my hair must be full of bug guts.
I plodded on. My feet (the balls mostly) were really aching. I stopped only once for a wee, although I stopped several times to get water so I’ve definitely drunk more than yesterday.
My legs hurt so much and I was very happy to reach the shelter. Less happy that there was no one else there; it would have been nice to have someone to talk to.
Fungi
Trail maintenance
Rocky steps
Blowdowns
A small section with no tree roots
Fungi or flowers?
I arrived at 18:20 which meant I’d been out for 11.5 hours pretty much. I wasn’t expecting today to be so hard, and tomorrow looks harder so I’m not sure when I’ll make it to Monson. It looks like at least 3 days from here so I hope I don’t run out of food. I packed 6 days of food, that was based on it having taken 4 days in 2018. Also I started the trial a bit fat, so going without food for a day or two might make me really miserable, but it isn’t going to hurt me.
I couldn’t decide whether to pitch my tent or stay in the shelter but the shelter won on the end through laziness; I couldn’t be bothered to pitch my tent.
Dinner for one
I noticed that the socks I got from Target had a hole by the toe. Now they are either cheap rubbish from Target which have split along the seam, of they were chewed last night by whatever rodent chewed through my tent as they were stuck out of my sleeping bag. I repaired them crudely and honestly my repair kit has been out more times this trip already than any other before.
I am definitely questioning why I am doing this and why I am trying to do it in 100 days!
As I lie in the shelter, at 22:33, I’m resigned to no one else coming. My legs are throbbing and so are my feet. I succumbed to taking a pain killer tonight so I took an Aleve to try and help it. I took way too many painkillers last time and I was trying to hold out for as long as possible before taking them.
A spooky night alone in the shelter
