Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 63 – The longest day so far
27th September 2023
William Penn Shelter (1006.1) - Peter’s Mountain Shelter (1037.5)
Daily miles: 31.4
Total miles: 1042.9
My legs are a mess!
There were gnawing sounds which we tried to ignore. Probably rodents. All our bags were hung up, that was all we could do.
I slept pretty well; didn’t even bother with ear plugs. It was so nice that it was just us and no one else in the shelter. I didn’t take a painkiller though last night which was a mistake because my legs were really throbbing.
5:30am wake up alarm, I shoved in a couple of croissants and I was back on trail at 6:40am. I visited the privy before leaving and there was nothing happening.
We had 31.4 miles to do today and I wanted to do it in 12 hours or less.
Honestly there isn’t that much to say about today. I walked all day with a 20 minute lunch break 15 miles into the day.
Pyro running past me
It was a chilly morning and I set out with my fleece and jacket on and lasted longer than I thought I would with them on, but eventually we started to see the sun and it warmed up. I passed Lemonhope and Pyro was already way ahead.
Lemonhope running past me
It was a nice pleasant morning. A few rocky patches and a few not rocky patches. The trail went under a bridge and along a bit of a road walk which was a nice break for the feet, through a big field and then up a little hill where it looked like the brush had been recently cleared.
A little view
Under a bridge
Over a bridge
Nice forest trail
Thankful for that plank
Yellow fields
Skinny trail
Not sure what berries are on this plant.
Anyone know what these are?
This part of the trail had been freshly cleared
I came to a junction where you could go on the AT and cross a beaver dam or go around the beaver dam and add 0.3 miles. I chose the beaver dam and it was fine, there were logs to cross on so I still had dry feet.
In the trees
Beaver bog and strategically placed logs
A couple of miles after that is where I took my lunch break as I was starting to flag. I fell over again this morning so I have quite the collection of cuts and scrapes on my legs now.
Lots of bridges today
This was a welcome break from the rocks
Seriously, what a mess
I ate some cheese and Pringles and brownies and Biscoff. There are 2040 calories in that jar of Biscoff.
Straight out the jar with my finger
The afternoon was more waking over rocks. These shoes are rubbish for that. The middle bit of the sole on the heel had no rubber so it’s just the squishy foam and every time I stepped on a pointy rock, which was quite a lot, it stabbed into my foot.
My shoe is totally blown out on the outside of my right foot. You would think this would mean they aren’t tight anymore, and they aren’t, but I still have pain in my little toe joint. Is there such a thing as a bunion on that toe joint?
Lots and lots of pointy rocks
These shoes are not designed for pointy rocks, that foamy bit offers zero protection
It is quite a big hole now!
I got bursts where I was going fast and then I would crash a bit and slow down. My legs feel a strange mix between really strong and really weak. It’s hard to explain.
I saw a handful of day hikers and one guy at a river who I made jump a lot because he didn’t see me and I said hello right next to him.
I came to a bridge after a rocky descent and the Swiss guy and his girl where there (we met them at the Lookout hostel and they had weird vibes). They said they had just ordered Indian food to the parking lot because they had run out of food. They are still giving weird vibes honestly.
Trail register in a mail box
I carried on, I still had 7 miles to go and a bit of a hill to climb. The hill wasn’t that bad but it was longer than anything we have had in a while. At 5pm I had 4.4 miles to go. It was still possible for me to achieve under 12 hours so I started moving as quickly as possible. To be under 12 hours but also so I could stop walking sooner because I’d had enough!
I was going well and 2 miles passed quickly. Then I was getting some pains like trapped wind pains so I loosened my hip belt for a bit, but that didn’t really help so I ignored it as best I could and carried on.
I was running parts of it; praying I didn’t fall over. The last 3 miles seemed to go so slowly and I arrived at the shelter at 6:30 so I arrived with 10 minutes to spare.
Looking kinda manic
Pyro is carrying gas and no stove so he was waiting for one of the girls to turn up before he could eat. I am carrying a stove and no gas so now Pyro is borrowing my stove for the rest of his time on trail. Really should have done that sooner!
He was there about an hour before me so he went to the water source, which was a steep 0.2 downhill, and he filled up a gallon ziplock as well which was great because I didn’t have to get water, and when Toe arrived after dark she didn’t have to go and get water either.
I was convinced this was going to go very badly but I was wrong
Had he not done this my strategy would have been make the 0.5l of water I had be enough until town tomorrow. I wouldn’t have gone down that steep hill to get water.
I ate Pringles and cheese for dinner. I wasn’t that hungry but I’m hungry now I’m lying down. It’s 20:40. Everyone is in their sleep positions and quiet. There are a few other people in the shelter tonight.
I said before I came out here I wanted that feeling of really having used your body and I’ve certainly got that tonight.
I struggled a bit with pain in my arm today. I haven’t had this problem before so I think it must be from one of the times I fell over. I was constantly re-adjusting my pack straps all day to see if it would help.
