Views, Snakes and Sweat! The Joys of the AT

On the 6th I did 15.9 miles and camped at "The Captains." On the 7th I did 17.3 miles and camped at Laurel Creek shelter. On the 8th I did 21.2 miles and camped along VA 620. On the 9th I did 18.3 miles and camped at Campbell shelter. On the 10th I did 15.4 miles and stayed in Daleville, VA.

The weather has been outrageous this last week. It has been almost always sunny and in the low to mid 80's. It is a little too early in the year for me to be ready to deal with heat like this. I've changed to drinking 5 to 6 liters of water everyday and taking a long nap during the heat of the day. These changes mean I need to pay more attention to where water sources are throughout the day and I have been getting up earlier then normal so I can hike while it is at least a little bit cooler.

Besides the weather this last week has been moderately eventful. One of those events is that I went over McAfee Knob which is the most photographed location on the trail. Last time I hit the knob in the afternoon with amazing weather. It was not quite as nice this time around. I got there around 7:30 at night on an overcast evening. This didn't make the views any less amazing.

Another thing that happened is that I saw my first rattlesnake. I was just walking along and daydreaming about something when I heard a rattle from right next to me. I just almost had a heart attack as I lept backwards.

Today was also the day that a guy, Wet Stray Dog, that I have been hiking with since the Smokies got off trail for a week and will be jumping to Delaware Water Gap after that week so he can finish the northern third of the trail before med school. It reinforces the fluidity that is the AT community. There aren't too many places where you can pretty much live with someone for 4-5 weeks and then have them disappear. It is odd but just part of the trail. I may see him again but there is also a decent chance I won't. Hopefully his remaining trail experience is a pleasant one.

Lastly, I ran into some section hikers 400 miles ago. This week someone said I was quoted on their blog. On their blog there is a pretty humorous conversation so I think I'll put a link here. http://harperanddad.blogspot.com/2014/04/on-appalachian-trail-hot-springs-nc-to.htm

Double lastly, in the last two weeks I've done roughly 250 miles which is pretty awesome. I'm taking an easy day today letting my feet feel a little better and then I'll knock some more miles out.