I slept at a shelter 15 miles from Springer Mountain and later found ou that Tom Tom slept at a campsite in the 20 plus mile range. With his extra miles, that is over a marathon in the mountains. I have to admit, I have climbed around in the mountains a lot over my life. Hardly ever with anything over a 20 pound pack. I am literally shocked at the difference between the two packs. I get winded within 40 yards going upwards even walking with a walking stick. I find myself leaning on the staff with it against my chest with both my hands on its top. I recover fairly fast and start again. My steps are short, nothing like Tom Tom's.
I met a camper with his boy who told me that they saw Tom Tom running uphill only four hours before. Tom Tom must have slept through his watch alarm clock.
I have been taking my time, stopping and cooking breakfast and lunch using a really small indian fire, no bigger than the bottom of my large coffee pot that I used as my only piece of cookwear. I ate peanut butter off of my knife blad as I had no fork or spoon.
 |
| my corner of the shelter, slept on my poncho |
I played leap frog with three groups of hikers, sometimes we took breaks together. Conner and Denice pumped two liters of water for me, so I wouldn't have to use my iodine pills. The three hiker groups stopped about five miles from Neel's Gap, near the base of Blood Mountain. (named after a bloody indian battle long ago). I was going to try to make it to Neel's before dark.
 |
| where the bloodiest indian battles were fought |
No comments:
Post a Comment