Day 21 300 Miles and Sickness

Writing from my tent with both Tyler and Spencer sick and throwing up.


Well today was another very interesting day. I slept well last night. We slept in a little bit but we’re still hiking by 9. 


We planned to hike 20 miles to Hogback Shelter but this plan did not end up working out. We were all moving pretty slowly. I took an ibuprofen in the morning since my calf still felt sore from the day before. Tyler was feeling especially lethargic. 


Despite not feeling 100% we enjoyed the perfect weather. We hiked to the top of Big Firescald Knob first thing in the morning. 




Next we crossed the three hundred mile mark. I didn’t see a marker for the achievement but still felt a sense of accomplishment. Shortly after mile marker 300 we climbed Big Butt Mountain, named for a very unique rock formation shortly before the summit. 




After Big Butt we descended for 4 miles before Tyler couldn’t go any further. We stopped at Flint Gap, a spot where Tyler and I camped 4 years ago. Tyler sat down on a log and threw up. Once we realized that it wasn’t a one time thing we all pitched our tents and prepared for a tough night. 


Since it was only 3PM Spencer and I had a camp fire. 



Not long after dinner Spencer began throwing up too. We are really unsure of what caused the illness, but either way we are going to sleep here for the night and take the shortest path into town tomorrow. We will hike 3.3 miles down hill into the nearest gap, where we will have a shuttle waiting for us at 11AM. From there we will go into Erwin TN and wait out the illness at a hotel. 


This situation is very unfortunate. It is awful being sick at the best of times. And being in the middle of the woods makes things worse. I’m grateful that we only have 3.3 miles into the gap tomorrow. I’m grateful that as of now I am not yet sick. We will see what the night brings.


Goodnight,


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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