... Living on a Prayer

On the 14th, we zeroed at Tumbling Run Shelter. On the 15th, we did 12.2 miles to Quarry Gap Shelter (beautiful shelter). On the 16th, we did 7.4 miles to Birch Run Shelter. On the 17th, we zeroed in Birch Run Shelter. On the 18th, we did 6.2 miles to Toms Run Shelter. On the 19th, we did 10.9 miles to James Fry Shelter. On the 20th, we did 12.2 miles to Boiling Springs and got a room at the Allenberry Resort and Playhouse.

Hiking the last week has been about the same as before. We make what miles we can and just keep trekking. The last few days, UV has started to hike at more of her old pace, which is quite encouraging but she is still fatigued quite quickly. Hopefully this is just the first step and over the last week of medication she will start feeling better in all aspects. One good thing is all the nasty side effects will definitely be done in another week.

Besides that, the last week has been distinguished by relatively easy terrain and rain. It has just about constantly rained for the last three days and five days ago we had a huge thunderstorm. Everything has been pretty much soaked since then. Due to this, when we got into Boiling Springs we decided to split a room at the Allenberry Resort instead of stay at the hiker campsite in town. The 13 bucks a person (woohoo for hiker rates!) was well worth the ability to do laundry, take a shower, and get dry. Especially since it had been two weeks since we had done the first two of those... and it's been pretty hot.

We have done some thinking about our future on the trail. Given the situations we have encountered over the last six weeks, we are much further south then originally planned. This leaves us with three options that I see. One, we keep hiking north and hopefully finish the trail but if we don't most likely it will be a section of Maine that remains unhiked. Two, at some point we find a way to skip to Katahdin and start heading south. This allows us to do Maine and utilize our entire time available to us. If we don't finish, the part unhiked will be somewhere in the middle. Lastly, at some point we just jump forward on the trail and continue hiking north. This allows us to hike Maine (what I'm most excited to do on the whole trail) and keep moving north, which just has a different vibe than going south.

Of these three options, if we decide to take one, I think it will be option three. The decision point is going to come somewhere in mid August. UV has a wedding she is going to be a bridesmaid in on the 18th of that month so she is getting off trail for something close to a week for that. I was invited and planned on going but now I think I will stay on trail and try and push miles during that week to get more done. If some sort of skip needs to occur, it seems like a natural time for it to happen when UV gets back on trail. It will just mean she gets on somewhere else and I find a way to jump forward.

If that needs to happen and people want to provide some sort of vehicular assistance to either of us it would be awesome. It seems like UV will probably try and get a bus or train or something to somewhere around Boston or Portland and I will be somewhere on the trail between New York and New Hampshire. I recognize that the window for where I'll be is huge but I just don't know currently. Both of us will surely find transport to where we need to be since there are a lot of shuttle people in the AT guide but if people want to volunteer that might make things simpler. More details on what will be happening will become available as we get closer to that date.