Miles Hiked 90.6
Elevation 1,492 feet
Miles Hiked Today 10.7
Woke up this morning at the shelter still wearing everything that I have. It’s not as cold as it was yesterday, which is a good thing. Even better, it’s supposed to get up to around 60°.
I slept in again and didn’t get up till about 7:00 a.m. . By the time I got everything packed up it was 8:00 a.m. . There is a big problem coming up that I hope I can avoid. My water is just about out. That is one of the problems with this Trail. There are not a lot of sources of natural water at this time of the year. So today it’s going to be a hunt for water.
The trail wasn’t too bad today. There were the ups and downs, but nothing huge like the last couple of days. The trail also mellowed out and was not as rocky. There were even some sections that were covered in pine needles rather than the leaves falling from the trees. Those leaves are second to the rocks as my most frustrating nemesis on the trail. The leaves cover tree roots and rocks so you can’t see them. The potential for twisting my ankle or falling when hitting a hidden rock or tree root is a very real problem
As I progress down the trail, I looked for water wherever my navigation app said there might be some natural or even cached water. All of the possible sources or drive though. I was experiencing some real problems with dehydration. My pace was very slow and of course I was thirsty. Towards the end of the day, I finally hit the jackpot. There were two spots within a half mile of each other that had water. I filled partially up at the first spot. Then at the second spot there was a lot more water, so I topped everything off. Everything being my 1 liter bottle and my 3 liter water bladder. There was even Trail magic at the last spot. I grabbed a Gatorade but left the candy alone.
It’s amazing how drinking a lot of water after not drinking hardly any all day changed my pace. I was doing at least two miles per hour where I was barely doing one to one and a half miles per hour most of the day.
I reached the Brushy Creek Mountain Shelter at 4:00 p.m. . That gives me some time to do a few things before I make dinner and go to bed. I’m not going to wear all my clothes in my sleeping bag tonight. The temperatures have moderated somewhat and it should be in the 40s tonight.
