A Dog Follows Hikers For Miles
This morning we woke up pretty early at the room and got packed up. Then I bagged up my leftover pizza from last night. But not before eating one slice for breakfast, and drinking a whole quart of chocolate milk. Then I was ready to start the day.
We left the room in the dark and began walking along the road. As we walked, Fresh Ground called to let us know he was on his way! He made it about 4-5 hours yesterday and will be making his way to us this afternoon. I’m so excited to see him and hang out for the next handful of days. He’s going to be helping us out along the Alabama road walk portion of our hike. Which is a godsend, as it will be another long stretch of road with even less places to stop off in between. More than anything though, I’m looking forward to all of the laughs we’ll be having. I always have such a great time and laugh so much when he’s around.
The sun began to come up and we enjoyed a really nice sunrise. Then walked through the first small town of the day. We even got to walk along a side walk for a while. Early on in the morning I finished the editing for my week 4 YouTube video which came out today. If you’d like to watch it you can find it @madisonblagden on YouTube. Then I got a blog and a short form video up as well. It feels good to get all of those up early in the day. Then I don’t have anything else to do or worry about for the rest of the day.
Around 9:45am I wound up calling my friend Dar. She’s the best friend that I’ve had for the longest, as we’ve known each other for 14 years! We might not see each other a lot because of my trips. But every time we talk or see one another it’s like no time has passed. We talked for 2 hours which was amazing. And she had me laughing so much. She’s one of those friends that you can say absolutely anything to. So as you could imagine, it was an entertaining and wild conversation. That was such a great way to pass the time while also getting caught up for the first time in a while.
By the time that we got off of the phone we had made it to the next small town. And stopped off for a few things at a dollar general. I got a chocolate milk, a Pepsi, and some chips. Still feeling pretty satisfied from the pizza I had earlier. Then we took a quick break and stretched. Before making our way the rest of the way through town. At this point, Fresh Ground was only a couple of hours out from us!
We walked the rest of the way through town, which was historic and had some cool buildings. There was alot to look at and see. Which I always enjoy. Then we walked out of town and continued along the road. We went by yet another correctional facility. Then past some more open land and farm land before entering the next town of Sneads.
When we passed by another gas station we grabbed a couple more things and got water. And not long after that Fresh Ground rolled on by! It was so awesome to see him again. We stopped in a parking lot and he whipped out a couple of chairs for us to get comfortable. Then gave us an ice cold coke and an apple to snack on. It’s so nice to be back all together. This is going to be such an awesome new 4-5 days hanging with him again. It’s always such a treat and a privilege. He’s truly one of the nicest people you could ever meet, and is so dang funny. I know we’re going to have such a blast.
He took our packs from us and gave us some slack packs for the last 7-8 miles. Which was amazing! All I brought was a charging brick and some water and I was good to go. The next couple of hours flew right on by.
At one point we went walked the road, we noticed a little doggy down in the bushes. When we called to it, it ran right over to us and was super friendly. She was a tiny beagle type dog who looked like a hunting dog. But her collar didn’t have any information on it. She wound up following us for over an hour! We just could not shake her. She just kept on going as we walked.
I called a bunch of animal shelters and humane societies to ask what to do. And see if anyone could help find her back to her home. But everyone said we were out of their range. In the end, Fresh Ground drove the dog back to where we originally saw it. That way it wasn’t miles from its home. Assuming it lived nearby where we first saw it. The area we had headed into was a lot more desolate without many houses around. She’ll be better off back by the neighborhoods and hopefully that was where she came from in the first place.
Then we walked for another hour or so before hitting 30+ miles for the day. When we finished up, Fresh Ground met us to drive us back to a campground. We had walked right by it. But stopping there would have been a short day. So we got more miles in and then drove back to the campground.
Once we got there we got our tents set up. Then had a delicious salad before enjoying cheeseburgers and fries. I had 2 burgers and a ton of fries. My body really needed this! I washed it down with some cold Gatorade and then a hot chocolate for dessert. Fresh Ground even whipped out the laptop and we watched some of a movie right there at the camp site. We sure are doing this hike in style when we can!
Fairly early in the evening we called it and wrapped things up. I got some video work and writing done. Then laid in my tent to stretch and wind down. Today was another 30 mile day but felt great. And I know with all this food in me I’m going to wake up feeling fantastic tomorrow.
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Comments 8
Peg Leg you are doing a phenomenal job, but a few words of advice. Ditch the junk food (chips, soda, cookies, etc) and go for protein and fresh fruits and veggies.
And your muscles need more rest days to repair and maintain muscles and energy.
Consider a Whole Foods multivitamin and electrolyte packets for your water.
Just some advice from a long time ultra runner 😁. Take care and be safe!
Yes, I remember you were eating cheese & butter on the CDT. But it’s great you have Fresh Grounds for the next few days! Have fun!!
So true. Runners don’t run 365. Long term nutrition is more important for her. Her diet now is food trash….ok for weeks or even a month, but even then pancreatitis is a concern.
No matter the calorie burn, pancreas wears out from so many rapid insults, muscle begs for protein to maintain itself, arteries want healthy fat…minimal saturated, not cholesterol laden… It’s good to know that healthy athletes die of sudden heart attack, or have fatty liver, or develop pancreatitis or rhab….because all they thought of were carbs and calories. Lesson learned.
Being thin. Bring active. Doesn’t equal health. What’s inside? When will it take you of course?
Bodies need real building blocks, not fast carb glycemic yoyo junk. That’s living for today, not tomorrow, and certainly not months or years from now. Your body lays down fat into your arteries no matter how much you exercise. Sugar and fast carbs (donuts, pizza, burger buns, chips) are inflammatory….in every part of your body. You can research this.
Your nutrition challenge is access. Maybe plan around that, rather than showers and motels. Wish I had some advice but last time I traveled I craved green, there was none to be had, so I paid 12 bucks for 2 servings of broccoli, and so on. Maybe drink a green drink every day, so you have 1-2 servings of micronutrients.
That doggo saw you two and figured, “I’m going on an adventure!” Glad to hear she was brought back to where you found her,.. hopefully she found her home.
Awesome to hear Fresh Ground is back doing his magic for you ❤️ Nothing beats real food at the end of a long hike!! You are AMAZING 🤩
Peg Leg I would echo what others have said about nutrition. As a former distance runner and someone who loves to work out, the fuel you put in will either keep you going for the long haul, or unfortunately could short circuit your hike. Protein, greens, nuts and healthy fats, butter & extra virgin olive oil are just a few things. Yes, you’re burning extreme calories but ultra processed foods with seed oils are highly inflammatory and could lead to short and long term health issues. Would love to help with ideas and will reach out to you. We’ve messaged before. Enjoy the adventure! HYOH, but I want to see you cross the finish line. Thanks for taking us along on your journey.
Always love all your photos, thanks so much for sharing your adventures with us Peg Leg! #BTBCYTC
To the nutritionists:
1. Peg Leg has walked over 12k miles, let’s have the grace to assume she knows how to care for her body and that she knows that “healthy” foods are better for her.
2. This level of exertion can wreck your appetite, something Peg Leg has mentioned multiple times over the years. Top priority sometimes is just getting calories in, in whatever form you can force yourself to stomach
3. There are so many barriers to “eating healthy” during a thru hike. How many grocery vs convenience stores line the road? And what type of food do convenience stores typically serve? How do you pack out raw meats and produce with no way to refridgerate them for hrs/days? How do you carry all the things needed to prep and cook and season it all? How do you justify the weight/volume per calorie for fresh produce vs more calorie dense “unhealthy” foods?
4. Does anyone really enjoy unsolicited advice from strangers on the internet?
1-3 super valid
4… ehhh, there an infinite websites dedicated to getting advice from strangers, including typically, the gear section on this one fwiw
To her previous post about folks knocking her current support system… no reason to knock it but I will say personally I simply find it less interesting and it seems more like a tour than an adventure at times. Nothing wrong with that. It’s amazing what she’s accomplishing regardless of any circumstance and I thank/applaud her for consistently sharing.