Last night I went to sleep knowing that today I was going to try a different strategy to complete the hike. He had really struggled the last few days. Originally, my plan was to walk two hours and take a 15-minute break, walk two hours, take another 15-minute break, walk two hours and take a 30-minute lunch break, and then walk a final two hours and call it a day. What I think I’ve realized is that the path doesn’t always fit my plans. For example, two days ago, my breaks didn’t coincide with water sources, so I ran out of water a couple of times. But last night I decided to hit waypoints on the trail through far (an app that maps many trails) so I can stop in good places with water. My strategy this morning was to stop immediately, take out my CNOC bag, fill it with water, set up my gravity drip filtration system while I sat down and had a quick snack and drank the rest of the water that was in the first bottle. I also decided not to record my distance on my Garmin watch. For two reasons: one, it seemed like the battery was draining pretty quickly and two, the alignment between the Garmin watch data and far data It is affecting my emotional state. Again, my walk is based on information from far It was going to take more breaks and a little more time, but I hoped it would leave me stronger at the end of the day.
Now that I’m putting this in writing, I should mention that what made me question my original strategy was the risk of dehydration. Warning: If discussions of bodily functions are not to your taste, skip a few lines please. So as I began the hike, I knew I would have a bottle of urine in my tent. Basically, it’s a CNOC collapsible bottle with a wide mouth that I know I can easily use to pee at night and not have to leave my tent. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that my urine was more than yellow, more than orange; It was brown, so I thought I had to rehydrate better. You can rejoin here. With my new strategy in mind, I began what promised to be a fairly forgiving hike. It would only be a twenty-five kilometer walk with a single notable climb early in the day.
And it was hot today, up to 80 degrees, but I felt comfortable and stayed hydrated and well fed. No, I can’t maintain 3 miles per hour with that strategy, but it will get me to Katahdin. Since today was Saturday, I ran into several groups of people who were out hiking during the day and even a couple of people on weekend backpacking trips. I was able to talk to most of them for a few minutes at each step and learned a lot about Alabama, a state I love more and more. Most of the trail was an easy hike and I was very grateful for that. I needed a quiet day to give my body some rest and relaxation. Today I only had dizziness on a short and very steep climb, but I never lost control.
I arrived at the 8 Acorns Hostel pickup point around two and began the decompression process. Duska, one of the owners of 8 Acorns, picked me up and even let me buy a couple of sodas and a Hunts Brothers pizza at a small store on the way back to the hostel. For the previous two hours, I was planning what I would do once I arrived at the hostel, so once I entered, I was ready to continue with my tasks for the day.
Another wonderful surprise along the way.
Duska mentioned that there was already a woman at the Hostel, but I couldn’t remember her name, I assumed she was Brite Lite from Next Step Hostel and I was pleasantly surprised that she was there. She was resting on the couch when I entered. We chatted briefly and then I excused myself to begin my tasks. I had a feeling that Hot Tang and Doomsday would be arriving at the lodge soon, so I wanted the clothes and shower ready when they got there. After doing laundry and showering, I went back to the common area and started eating my pizza. I have always been surprised in previous adventures how Hunger can make a less than delicious pizza taste wonderful. I was able to polish half of it at that time when I reached for Brite Lite. She is just another example of how many great people one can meet here along the way. There have been a litany of them, but you can really only talk to those you spend time with at camp or in a hostel. I thought I’d be walking and talking to other people all day, but it doesn’t seem to happen.
After finishing up some household chores, I began the process of planning my next week of travel. I think I’ve discovered a little trick to help me do it, but I need a piece of paper to make it happen. Lihat juga mnb4. I don’t think I could do it on my phone at a campsite at night. Anyway, things are looking good for my next week of hiking.
I’m not sure what my entries will look like on my zero days. Tomorrow will be my first zero (no mileage gain), although I did have a nero (little mileage gain) at Talladega.
Happy trails…
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