Posted by Jill
This post is part of a series that was originally written during our 2012 section hike on the AT. To read all of the entries, click here.
Originally written 4/20/12
Day 14
NOC (mile 137.3)
I woke up today feeling exhausted despite only doing 11 miles yesterday. I was just groggy and slow for some reason. The plan was to have Serial leave a few minutes early so I could have Rooney today, but as we were packing up Rooney had a burst of energy and ran off. He was only gone about 5 minutes, but the fog was thick and we couldn’t see him. I was crying and panicking while we both went looking for him. Of course he came running back like nothing had happened, but for those 5 minutes it was the worst.
After that, I was tired and emotional so Serial ended up hiking with me most of the day. It was nice to have the silent support. I did learn that our hiking styles are too different to hike together everyday though – we would drive each other crazy.
Our normal routine is much better. We start the morning together and eventually Serial leaves me behind, typically on a climb. Then we spend a few hours hiking alone and going our own pace. I usually meet him at the lunch spot we pick, about 10-12 miles in, and then we finish the day together and hike into camp. It’s really nice.
So today we finished our day with what felt like an eternal descent into the NOC. We found a campsite and set up for the night, then housed some restaurant food. We ran into to Stilleto (a girl friend!), Chief, Suds, Pinky, Flinstone and a few others that we bump into from time to time. There is a kayaking festival here this weekend so we listened to live music and hung out. Super fun and a great group to chill with.
This post is part of a series that was originally written during our 2012 section hike on the AT. To read all of the entries, click here.
Originally written 4/20/12
Day 14
NOC (mile 137.3)
I woke up today feeling exhausted despite only doing 11 miles yesterday. I was just groggy and slow for some reason. The plan was to have Serial leave a few minutes early so I could have Rooney today, but as we were packing up Rooney had a burst of energy and ran off. He was only gone about 5 minutes, but the fog was thick and we couldn’t see him. I was crying and panicking while we both went looking for him. Of course he came running back like nothing had happened, but for those 5 minutes it was the worst.
After that, I was tired and emotional so Serial ended up hiking with me most of the day. It was nice to have the silent support. I did learn that our hiking styles are too different to hike together everyday though – we would drive each other crazy.
Our normal routine is much better. We start the morning together and eventually Serial leaves me behind, typically on a climb. Then we spend a few hours hiking alone and going our own pace. I usually meet him at the lunch spot we pick, about 10-12 miles in, and then we finish the day together and hike into camp. It’s really nice.
So today we finished our day with what felt like an eternal descent into the NOC. We found a campsite and set up for the night, then housed some restaurant food. We ran into to Stilleto (a girl friend!), Chief, Suds, Pinky, Flinstone and a few others that we bump into from time to time. There is a kayaking festival here this weekend so we listened to live music and hung out. Super fun and a great group to chill with.
