Ramblin' on

Day 9 - 4/19/10
I forgot to mention yesterday that I was going to try sleeping in the
shelter again, something I hadn't done since my first night on the AT.
I wish tented out again instead because I slept next to a guy who
snored like a chainsaw. Not my best nights sleep. I still made it out
of camp by 8:15 though and got a good jump on the day. I wasn't sure
if I was going to try for another long hike again, but I knew if I did
do it I could be at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) by the next
afternoon and maybe get a bunk there.

I was pretty much alone most the day, but toward lunch time got passed
by a kid named Ben, who I ended up hiking with later on. It was still
an enjoyable day even though I was by myself for most of it. I saw
some pretty neat balds on the tops of some mountains, and stopped at
this old stone building with some amazing views of the valley. All in
all it was a good day with some tough ups and downs, but manageable.

So I pull into the second shelter from rock gap, Wayah Shelter, at
around 4, and it's pretty full. That was 14.8 miles from Rock gap, so
I'd already put in a solid day, but I decided to go for it and push to
the next shelter, making my daily total 19.6, almost the exact same
distance as yesterday. Ben happened to be at Wayah when I got there,
but he wanted to move on too, so we left about the same time and hiked
the last three miles to cold spring shelter together. The last mile
was especially tough because it was the last uphill push of the day,
and it was steep. But we finally made it in at about 6:15 and promptly
made dinner. I was pretty starving, so I had rice with tuna. I was
surprised how easily I ate it, I'm not much of a tuna guy, so I might
have to start eating it more often on the trail.

I was going to sleep in the shelter, but changed my mind and went for
this tenting spot up the hill, setting my tent up just before dark. I
didn't want to risk another snorer, I need a good sleep, or as good as
I can get at least. Hopefully I'll sleep well. I have a pretty flat
spot for once so I know I won't slide. After I was done setting up the
tent some other hikers and I built a small campfire near our area and
then sat arounding telling stories about bears and people and some of
the better tales we've heard along the trail so far. It was a good
time with lots of laughing.

Now I'm in bed, frigid and tired. I'm going to resupply at the NOC,
and I have the whole hike down there to decide if I want to get a bunk
and stay the night too. I've heard it's going to rain tomorrow, so
that may also impact my decision. We'll see what happens.

Total miles: 123.5