Day 4 Stretching Miles

Writing while watching the sunset out of my tent, after stretching my legs very thoroughly and taking care of some well earned blisters.


We all survived the cold last night. Actually I found it pretty nice. It’s always good being warm, but if a night only gets down to 45 degrees I sweat all night in my 20 degree sleeping bag. That was not the case last night. I was almost the perfect temperature for sleeping. Granted I did wear my down jacket, but if anything I was still too warm, not too cold.


The moon has been incredibly bright every night so far. I don’t know where exactly it is in the cycle but it might as well be the sun for how bright it has been. Overall I was probably asleep for 7-8 solid hours last night between 10PM and 6AM. At 6 I stirred and saw some orange on the horizon so I quickly packed my things up so that I could check out the sunrise. It was definitely worth being a little cold and losing a little sleep. 



After sunrise we headed down hill and stopped at a water supply. The first 6 miles of the day were an excellent warmup, quite gradual and smooth. This worked out well as the last 9 miles of the day involved going up and over 3 different mountains that were near or over 4.000 feet tall. And between each mountain we dropped down to a gap around 3,000 feet elevation. Going up and down, up and down, up and down again really took its toll. I feel like my leg muscles are already adapting to the daily hiking habit, but my knees and ankles are still adjusting to the extra strain. I made sure to stretch out my legs a lot today, as loosening the muscles will relieve tension from the joints. 


Before climbing Blue Mountain, the first of our three mountains for the day, we stopped at a shelter to eat some food. The shelter had great views and we spent some time talking and hanging out with two other thru hikers. 



After Blue Mountain we dropped down 1,100 feet to Unicoi Gap where we got some fresh fruit from a trail angel. We have had a lot of unexpected support from trail angels this trip. We didn’t stay long and made our way up Rocky Mountain, our second climb of the day. Despite all the hard work and the higher elevation of the peaks our views were much fewer and further between than they have been the last couple days. Compounding this with my dwindling phone battery and my growing fatigue I didn’t get many pictures of Rocky Mountain. 


Our final ascent of the day was Tray Mountain. We were already pretty beaten up from Blue and Rocky, so the more gradual ascent of Tray was pretty slow going. We finally hit the summit and were rewarded with a nice overlook. 



From Tray we descended for our final two miles of the day. My ankles and knees were definitely feeling it by now and I practically stumbled into our beautiful campsite for the night, Steel Trap Gap. The only downside of this tent site is the long and arduous journey down to the water supply. The guide book says it’s only .1 mile down, but it’s pretty much straight down hill. So the .1 feels more like a whole mile. 


Apart from that we had a quick dinner and a very nice sunset, which as I said at the beginning I have been watching from my tent. You couldn’t buy views like this if you tried. Especially not as you’re falling asleep. 




I have really enjoyed living in the mountains for the last few days. We drink cold water fresh from mountain streams, survive off of what we can carry on our backs, and push ourselves toward our ultimate goal of walking to Maine. I feel very content out here so far. Im looking forward to the coming months. 


In total today we covered a very rugged 15 miles. While the mile total is lower than the last two days, today was by far the hardest yet. Elevation change and steepness trump distance for difficulty as far as I’m concerned.


Tomorrow we have a much easier and less rugged 9 miles into Dicks Creek Gap, where we will get a shuttle into Hiawassee for our first night in town yet. I’m very much excited to eat real food and sleep in a real bed. 


Goodnight


Walker 


If you want to follow Tyler or Spencer, here are their logs as well:


Tyler: https://tylerat2024.blogspot.com/?m=1


Spencer: https://www.instagram.com/baxter.bound?utm_source=qr&igsh=MWx4MzRqa3M4dGk3Mw==


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