April 5-6 in North Carolina

April 5, 2005 | Day 9 | Miles: 12.2 | Total Miles: 87.5
End: Beech Gap, unofficial campsite, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and the temperature was just right-not too hot, not too cold
Well, NC started off with a bang. Two big, mean uphills. Ugh! Guess that's what we signed up for though, so nothing to do but push on through. After that nice wake-up, the day mellowed out a bit. The highlight was Standing Indian Mountain. The way up was graded for logging so it was nice and gradual. The actual summit was a bit off the trail so we shed our packs and decided to take a look. Worth it! Beautiful vistas back into GA, a nice grassy spot and a patch of blooming daffodils. Very nice.
On the downside, Ryan's leg was hurting a bit for the last few miles, which is a total bummer and which has him feeling very frustrated. We're going to take a mellow, shorter day tomorrow and hope it feels better. I know when he's feeling low, he thinks he's going to be the one to keep us from Katahdin, but that's just so far away, it doesn't make sense to think that way yet. We've only been out for a little over a week. Who knows what will happen? I think we both have the strength to go the whole way, but really we have to take it a day at a time. It's too overwhelming otherwise. We just have to be happy with what we've done so far, and we should be-we're into a whole new group of people who started days before us! Anyway, hopefully he'll feel better tomorrow.
As for me, I'm just happy to be here :-) A bit sore and tired, but overall feeling good and strong.

Ryan:
perfect hiking weather
ouch. my left ankle/lower leg hurts. i think it's from the weakness in that ankle. hopefully, as it gets stronger, the pain will end...then something else will start hurting. really, every step hurts. that was not in the brochure. but, i was only hurting the last 3 miles. the rest of today was perfect. bright sun, and the views from the top of standing indian mountain, 5498 ft., were the best yet. overall, nc seems like it's going to be a bit more rugged than ga, but no less beautiful. looking forward to a relatively mellow 10 miles tomorrow.
today's song - hurt so good, john cougar mellencamp

April 6, 2005 | Day 10 | Miles: 15.3 | Total Miles: 102.8
End: Rock Gap shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and nice
Well, so much for a short day. But Ryan was feeling good and the terrain was forgiving so we went for it. As for milestones today, we did our biggest day yet, and we have now officially hiked over 100m. Yeah!
So you know how a few entries ago, I was saying how much food we were carrying? Well, last night we set out all our food and saw that we were running low. So, time to start rationing. Not so fun. So this morning was a clif bar smeared with peanut butter. Does that sound desperate? If so, then this afternooon was half a bagel each. Not so satisfying. But the best thing was that about 200 yards after we stopped and ate lunch, we came across a big sign that said "trail magic" with a big awning and camper, and a fire going under a big Maine sawmill blade serving as a warming iron. Terry and Barrie were serving up great burritos and sodas and cinnamon buns. Yum! It was great trail magic and filled us up for the climb up Albert Mountain, a short steep trudge like we're used to up in NH. Then it was a mellow downhill and we got to the intended shelter at 2pm with the sun still shining and Ryan feeling good, so we decided to head to the next shelter. My feet were complaining a bit, but not too bad otherwise.
We're currently trying to figure out our plan for tomorrow as it's supposed to rain. Oh well, we can't complain-three great days of sun in a row. Very nice! :-)

Ryan:
perfect hiking weather
what a difference a day makes. we did our longest day yet, and i feel great. no ankle pain. my theory is that i changed my gait because of the blister on my heel. blister is good, and so i'm very happy. trail magic helps, too. burritos at bearpen gap, and a cinnamon roll, and dr. pepper...oh yeah, we rolled in there 5 minutes after lunch. it was so good. i could have sat there all day, but someone didn't let me. we had preview of the trail in the whites today with the climb up mount albert. it was steep and rocky. short, though. overall, today was probably the best day yet. it supposed to rain tomorrow, so it looks like we're in for a couple soggy days.
today's song - wanted dead or alive, bon jovi