The Hills that Never Stopped

There was not much motivation or urgency happening this morning. I ate a bunch of food this morning trying to make room for my resupply. Getting a hitch out of the hotel was more difficult since we were leaving later, but we eventually got one. I was antsy to get on the trail, so as soon as we got into town I went to get water and hit the trail. At this point it was already 11am.

Two things I remember of today...I went up so much. Honestly, I never thought I’d stop hiking up. The second was never resupply in NOC or have a box sent there because you have to carry it all up the mountain. Definitely a rookie mistake for sure.

On top of all the elevation, I was nursing a couple really good blisters which was slowing my pace a lot. It was frustrating because I wanted to hike faster, but I just had pain with every step.

Finally I got to the top. The view was beautiful. A few hikers were setting up tents to stay for the night. I pulled out my lunch and some snacks to eat a very late lunch. Eating helped me feel more rejuvenated. I knew I couldn’t stay for long so I packed back up and headed down the trail.

Fortunately the next little bit wasn’t quite so bad as far as elevation was concerned but the downhill wasn’t any more forgiving on the blisters. I was trying to truck it as fast as I could because I knew time was ticking.

As I was coming into Stecoah Gap, I saw trash cans and realized I still had trash I had forgot to throw away. As I was digging trash out of my pack, three hikers were getting dropped off after doing a resupply. I got talking to them for a while. In the meantime, time is ticking and I still had an hour or so of hiking left. I took the last ounce of motivation I had and took off. The hike wasn’t awful, but after being exhausted from the day and pain from the blisters, I was not in the mood. Watching the sunset as I was hiking Jacob’s Ladder was what got me through those last couple miles.

As I got to the shelter, the crew from the hostel was there. I was thinking I would see them and it was good to see familiar faces after such a long day. I set up my tent over the bank by the stream and filtered some water. It was so late and I didn’t feel like cooking so I opted for snacks for dinner.

When I crawled into my tent I was exhausted, but I also felt accomplished after a hard day. Days like today requires you to pair your physical and mental strength. Obviously you have to put forth the physical strength, but you also have to be in the right mindset to keep going even when it’s hard. Although difficult, I love days like today that push me. I am continually impressed with what I am truly capable of.