Stretch—Days 37 to 44

Starting May 21

Day 37: 11.7 mi (481)

Meatstick and I made it out of Damascus after laundry and resupply with help of the trail angel Pooh Bear. Thanks!
$10 Face Bug Net, $36 Big Agnes Pillow, $28 Resupply

Day 38: 21.5 mi (502.5)

Meatstick and I paced the day perfectly. We relaxed on top of views, hung out in fields and made it to camp at a reasonable hour.

Day 39: 25.2 mi (527.7)

Today was full of trail magic and ponies. It was hard to keep a good pace with all the stops but I certainly appreciated them.

Day 40: 18.6 mi (546.3)

After a painful morning nursing my massive heel blinders, Meatstick and I hit some epic trail magic and met back up with. We made our way to Atkins and only did a brief stop. I probably shouldn’t have had beer, I ended the night fairly dehydrated.
$22 resupply $7 beer

Day 41: 20.2 mi (566.5)

Today was the first day I was in a bad mood on the trail. I was in pain and exhausted. I’m planning to slow down a bit at this point. My feet need the rest and calf has a big knot that needs to be wiped out. I’m hoping two short days could do it.

Day 42: 25.9 (592.4)

I took my time leaving the shelter and made my way on some easy terrain. I was dehydrated yesterday and now feel much better. I first planned on doing 16 but made it to that spot really early so pushed on to do 20. I later ran into Toastie and we both decided to push on to the shelter although she stopped a campsite before. It was my first day hiking alone and not meeting up with anyone. The dynamic of my hike has definitely changed and some mental endurance will definitely come into play now.

Day 43: 18.4 (610.8)

First full day on my own and I keep going back and forth between being lonely knowing I won’t have someone to meet with at camp to being excited for my own plans. I tend to get competitive I’m hiking and will push a long day thinking, “if they can, why can’t I?” My upcoming slow down is stressing me out, I feel like a hiking robot and doing less than 20 feels like it’s not in my programming. I haven’t been sleeping lately though so I’m working on getting that back on track so I can get my brain back to full function. Yay Benadryl for making sleep happen.

$7 lunch, $11 resupply

Day 44: 13 (623.8)

Manage my smell situation at the Woods Hole Hostel. I did some laundry, was able to shower and had an excellent meal. Definitely a stop I would highly recommend. The morning’s hike was rough but the hostel and good company made the day excellent.

$15 bunk, $22.50 food, $6 fuel, $1 tp