A day of Misjudgment

Morning Routine 

The chirping of the birds and the light from the dawn woke me this morning. My body acted on its own. Grabbing my puffy I sat passenger Seat in my mind as my body took the wheel and steered me to the privy for the morning ritual. Morning rituals are sacred on trail, well, at least in my opinion they are. To mess with one’s morning ritual is blasphemy out here. Routine is what keeps us in motion out in the woods.

Camp break down sucks. If there were a top list of worse things to experience on trail camp break down is always up there with being wet or hiking in the rain. It HAS to be done but no one ever wants to do it. The effort and work that has to be done in the wee hours of the morning when all you want to do is just bundle up in your quilt in your cocoon and continue the current episode of dreamland TV has got to be the most depressing thing on trail.

Breakfast was cooking as the communal picnic table began to fill up. I talked With a woman named Anne Marie who hiked in later than I did last night. Anne Marie and her friend hiked into camp at about One in the morning. We talked about kids and adoption. She had six children with her husband. Four of which she had originally fostered and eventually adopted.  There were the college boys from last night, some overnight weekend campers, and then the aspiring thru-hikers. I commingled as I looked at how I was going to make up the 8 miles I didn’t get to hike yesterday. I’d settled on figuring it out as the days went on a couple of miles here a couple miles there, it’d work out some way.

Onward and Upward 

The first half of the day went by perfectly. This was going to be the perfect thru-hike. Summating Springer mountain again just the same as I did two years prior I took the view in. I’m amazed that two years have already passed. Stopping for a few minutes to enjoy the view I put my name down in the log book for fun. A little over a mile up the trail was the beginning of the Benton Mackaye Trail, and then shortly after that you run into the official southern terminus plaque.

Come lunch time I’d decided to hop onto to the AT and hit Stover creek shelter. I’d been there a number of times on day hikes. I also stopped at this shelter for lunch two years ago. It was almost like deja vu. It wasn’t going to be extra miles, the AT and the BMT crisscross a few times the first couple of miles.

My body was in much better shape I could do the 18 miles I wanted / needed to do today. Wrong… I’d gloated to Becca, my other half, this morning when I had service. I told her that I might be able to do this faster than I thought, and that hubris was my downfall. It was only a few miles after sending that message to her that I realized something important.

The Justin that made this hiking schedule a few months ago either underestimated the trail or over estimated my abilities hiking all those miles from the get go. By mile ten I just sat down in the middle of the trail. I took off my pack and turned it into a makeshift pillow and I closed my eyes for a quick nap. My eyes flew open as fast as they’d fallen shut. Panicking because it felt like I’d missed something I turned my head left and right looking for it. Like the bell for the start of school, or Sleeping through my alarm clock for work.

It’s the middle of the woods though, what the hell was I missing? I begrudgingly got up and donned the pack of doom once more. My hiking schedule had me making camp at Paynes gap, mile 27 on trail. There was no way that mile marker was crossing my path today. By this point it was 3 o’clock and I was 2 1/2 miles from Bryson gap I was concerned about reaching that within a reasonable time.

Pushing Onward 

I was surprised when Bryson gap came into view and I realized there wasn’t much room to hang a hammock. There was also the realization that Toccoa Bridge, the big suspension bridge everyone talks about was only 2.8 miles ahead of me. I’ve been there before with Becca and the kids. Camping there was on my list, but I couldn’t justify just hiking 2.8 miles tomorrow. The pack of doom rested on top of my shoulders once more and down the trail we went.

My body had forgotten the muscles in the back and shoulders that are used when hiking with a pack on. It was only day two but I could feel the burn in my back and shoulders. Muscles being used in ways that were different from my day-to-day life. I pushed the 2.8 miles to The Suspension bridge. Besides really wanting to camp there because it was so picturesque, I also pushed the 2.8 miles because it was all downhill.

Setting up camp it felt a bit eerie. There were some people fishing as I set up in the spruces. These trees were huge! It felt like I was on set of the movie Jurassic Park, or camping in the forbidden forest of Harry Potter. Luckily some regular trees mixed in the spruces were far enough apart to hang my hammock from. I try to avoid hanging from spruce or pine trees. Their sap can get on your straps and then get all over your pack if you’re not careful. While not impossible to get out of gear it’s a real pain in the ass to do it. I haven’t had to do it yet but I’ve heard if you ever have to remove pine sap from gear or clothes, rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits will do the trick. 

If you ever get a chance to come up here to the suspension bridge that crosses the Toccoa river. I suggest you come and camp it’s beautiful. However, as I lay here typing, I’m coming to the realization that it’s quite possible there’s more miles than I have time to hike. Thru-hiking is a marathon of marathons. There’s a balance to everything out here on trail.

Your pack should weigh a certain weight proportional to your size. There needs to be a certain amount of sleep a night. There should be a build up of miles over time. There are stretches to do in the morning, during the day, and at night. Pack off breaks, shoes off breaks, foot soaks in the creeks. All these things come together to form the balance of a thru-hiker’s day. Now none of these “have” to happen, but I assure you, keeping these things in the forefront of your mind and keeping them balanced everyday will make your life so much easier on trail.

I’d allotted 21 days for this trip, and I’m coming to the realization that I made this hiking schedule with the justin that had hiked hundreds of miles and developed his trail legs already on trail. I may not get to finish this, due to time, or due to responsibilities.