Day 20 Difficult Ascent

Writing from my tent while listening to a barred owl after hiking 21 strenuous miles. 


I slept well next to the river last night. I probably got a solid 8 hours of sleep. We started moving just after sunrise and were hiking by 9. We planned to hike a very difficult 21 miles today, including over 7,000 feet of ascent and 4,000 feet of descent. The day turned out to be as difficult as we expected. 


We began the day by climbing up out of Hot Springs. We hiked steeply uphill for the first 5 miles of the day. On the way up we could see back down to the river.



On the way up Rich Mountain we had a road walk and crossed over an open field. After the first 5 miles we reached the top of Rich.


After Rich we lost elevation until lunch. When we resumed hiking my leg really started bothering me. I took an ibuprofen and that helped but my leg continued to hurt for the rest of the day. I also had two doses of electrolytes. The strange thing is, it’s a different muscle. The pain is still in my right calf, but now it’s at the front next to my shin. Im pretty sure the muscle groups in my calf are over worked, so to compensate I’ve been relying more on a different part of the muscle, which then also gets overworked. Hopefully this is the end of it, and the cramping will stop. Other than my leg pain I feel very good. So if the leg pain goes away we can really start moving. 




The weather today was amazing, cool in the morning but warmed up to 55 degrees and clear skies. We have had amazing luck with weather so far. 


We ran into a lot more hikers today. Throughout the day we probably met a half dozen thru hikers who are doing similar distances to us. I will be very curious who we continue seeing over the coming weeks. 


After 17 difficult miles we found a sign for the “Southern Cookie Lady.” Apparently the Cookie Lady and her husband live just a couple hundred yards from the trail and give hikers a free cookie. So Spencer and I had to stop. We had a very pleasant conversation with the Cookie Lady’s husband and enjoyed a homemade cookie. 


The last six miles of the day were pretty much straight up hill. The uphills are more arduous but also hurt my calf less. We gained 2,400 feet before making it to camp. I’m pretty exhausted after a long and painful day. But I feel accomplished having made it this far, and the next few days should be easier.


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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