Mud, mud and more mud!
(Excerpt from Mud Butts AT Journal-3.30.03)
Note: We will get back to the 10 Essentials soon…..I promise!
What a day! I don’t even know where to start. I got a late start this morning…mostly cause I slept too late. I am learning that the hardest part of thru hiking is not climbing mountains…it is getting out of your sleeping bag in the morning! And to make things worse, when I woke up this morning, everything in my tent was soaked! Of course, the clothes I wore yesterday were soaked, and it took me a good 15 minutesto get up the courage to put them back on again. Truly, nothing is worse than having to put on an icy, wet sports bra! Oh well…..I am only carrying 2 sets of clothing,one for hiking and one for sleeping, so on they went!
I did spend some time talking to a nice couple that had passed me several times yesterday. Their names are Marty and Kara and they are very cool. Unfortuntely, everyone is moving so much faster than me, however, so I don’t expect I will see them again
Oh well, maybe we will reonnect later this Spring at Trail Days in Damascus!
Well, the day was long and hard and wet and muddy. Did I mention that this is hard!? At one point, I ran out of water about three miles from my next water source. And don’t think that the irony of the situaion escaped me! Rain and mud everywhere but nothing to drink! Well, as I came down into Coopers Gap I was miserable. EXTREMELY miserable! Up ahead through the fog,(did I mention that it was pea soup all day?) I caught a glimpse of something red and green. As I got closer, I realized that it was a pile of soda cans. My heart literally started racing….please, please let one of them be full! You see, trail angels will do that sometimes…leave a bunch of sodas in a creek or something…but what if they were all empty?!?! I was truly panicked at the thought. When I walked up and saw that they were full, I literally burst into tears. I was so cold, so tired, in sooo much pain,and soooo thirsty. And someone I will never meet did one little thing that completely changed my day. Whoever you are, thank you,thank you thank you! You will never know what you did!
Well, after that, I flew over the next two miles…well,ok, I trudged…:), but I finally made it to Justus Creek. I had beautiful little camp site next to a stream with a little waterfall. A couple across the stream from me came over later, introduced themselves and invited me to come share their pot of stew. Being exhausted, (an more than a bit intimidated) I regretfully declined, but the offer really warmed my heart. Life is looking up. Everythng I have is still soaked, but I am surviving! 🙂
Love, Anna aka Mud Butt