Day 4 : Feb 25

Other than the euphoria of summiting springer on day one, today was my favorite day. 

I slept okay last night. Woke up a few times and it took awhile to fall back to sleep. Thankfully only one or two people in the hostel snored and it wasnt loud. I rolled out of bed around 7 and packed up by 8. The hostel we stayed at was in Neil's gap and the name was mountain crossings. They have food options for resupplies and a ton of gear options. Walker decided to buy a new tent as his was giving him so many issues and no good nights of sleep. We both got another 3 days of food including plenty of tuna. The best thing I bought was chapstick. My lips have been so incredibly chapped the past few days its unbelieveable. I rarely use chapstick. Maybe in the past 5 years I've used it 2 or 3 times. But let me tell you, chapstick is amazing. I've used it 5 times today alone and it's just great. Okay,  enough about chapstick. 

After leaving mountain crossing at 9 thre day met us with more fog and rain. After a few hours though, the fog cleared. At first we celebrated the ability to see more than 100 feet in front of us, as the last 40 hours had been. Although the views were welcomed back, the rapid increase in humidity was not. It got up to 62 degrees today and if the humidity was under 80% I'd be shocked. Even so, we quickly adjusted and simply agreed to the fact that the weather was better than it was yesterday, and so we kept moving on. 

We hiked through a series of mountains today in the raven cliff wilderness. Up 1000 feet, down 600 feet, up 500 feet, down 300 feet, down 400 feet, up 800 feet.... that was our day. The views were beautiful though and every additional physical struggle that we can currently endure within reason will continue to make us stronger. 

We planned to hike from mountain crossings to either low gap shelter or poplar stamp gap (31.3 to 42.8 / 44.1 ) upon arrival at both there was some space but in general they were both very crowded. So we decided to push on another mile up the hill and came to a rough campsite, big enough for 2 tents. Walker and I quickly settled down here. 14.5 mile day done. 

What made this campsite so amazing is the view we had from here. By turning your head 360 degrees, 300 degrees has large blue ridge mountains in view. As we were cooking taco rice ( which is rice, pasta, and cheese in a taco spice blend ) and ramen, which actually makes a pretty good combination by the way, we were able to experience a serene mountain landscape as we were tucked away and peacefully alone on a mountain top. What came next was unexpected. There had been clouds all day. The sunset was barely visible over a mountain to our southwest. Then, the clouds dissipated. And we were left with one of the most magnificent sunsets I have ever seen. Bright bands of red, orange, purple, and yellow threw themselves across the sky. The mountains on every side of us turned bright and then dark red, and the sun descended. 

The experience of watching a sunset beginning to end has always been something I have enjoyed, this was no different. The feeling of accomplishment of hiking another day, partnered with the tranquility of being 3700 feet up by ourselves enjoying on of the simplest yet most glorious aspects of everyday was beyond words. 

Changing topics, our bodies have begun to question us at every step. Our calves and quads in the morning, our feet and backs at night. Although we are tearing down our muscles and joints daily, the promise of greater endurance in the upcoming weeks gives us hope to move on. To a degree, it's only as bad as you make it. Obviously, if your leg is snapped in two, no matter how many times someone tells you to get over it or keep going, you arent gonna move. Thankfully our situation is not like that. We are sore and tired. But each morning we are renewed. We listen and pay attention to our bodies during the day, and we take precaution when necessary. Yesterday my left foot was feeling very strange going up blood mountain. We took a 15 minute break, stretched in the pouring rain, I massaged my foot and kept going. Did it heal my foot 100%? Absolutely not. Did it allow me to finish the day? Yes. Today walkers knee was giving him some issues going downhill. We took a break, massaged it and kept going. 

Most issues that we have with our bodies cannot be fixed instantly, rather slowly over time. I am glad we are of the same mindset. This hike is not a sprint, it is a marathon. A 2193 mile long marathon and we still have 2148 to go. 

I am greatly enjoying myself out here. There are probably so many more things I could include but for now its 9, and I'm going to bed. Today was my favorite day. Dont exactly know why, but I think that sunset has something to do with it. 

Lastly, I plan on uploading pictures when I get to hiawasse in a few days. Uploading pics drains my battery and it's not like I have an outlet I can plug into that often. 

In the meantime, have a few sunset pictures. I doubt they turned out as good as they were to see, especially since the atmosphere of it all is impossible to capture. Either way, enjoy. 

Goodnight,

Tyler M.