Supporting Each Other

Starting the day at Neels Gap, we were in the fog like most mornings in the mountains. Sleep was tough with the sound of traffic, an owl and persistent winds all night. As we walked on that morning I began to break emotionally. Thinking of how my other knee is now giving me trouble and swept away with thoughts of not being able to complete our goals was really crushing me. This really is a monumental challenge both physically and emotionally. Though, I couldn’t be more fortunate to have such a wonderful husband to help support me in my weakness. He as always puts my needs first. Reminding me of how we are getting stronger every day and we’re keeping up with a pack of great new hiker friends, my mind began to shift just as the sun began to rise.

It turned into a beautiful day. We completed some challenging peaks and settled into a shelter area to fill up water and pitch tent for the night.

11.5 mile day. Still doing good beating MS.

Next day.

We started back on the trail after some coffee and this morning we had more sunlight than fog. My emotional state was much better after better sleep. It’s going to be a good day!

Our first few miles were gradual, but that changed mid day and we ended up getting 2 4,000 ft peaks done before night fall. Grateful for my husband who really wanted to make it to the next shelter, but he could tell I was not going to make it that far so he left the decision of where to camp up to me. I chose a nice campsite at the peak of our last mountain which gave us a 360 degree views through the trees.

We were joined by 2 other hikers. One didn’t realize there was a campsite there until we ran into him while we were looking around to see if there was a better spot before pitching our tent.

That was a “powers that be” kind of moment because he looked desperate for a place to finally lay his head.

We found him at the view point on top of the mountain.

He went to bed early.

11.1 mile day

We stayed up and had dinner and shared stories with “Traverse” a new hiker friend. We found out that the beautiful grove like path that we hiked that day had a hidden surprise. When he hiked that section he came upon a Copperhead snake that coiled and prepared to strike. He walked back slowly and got out of sight waiting for the snake to move on before he could hike on. Glad we didn’t have that experience.

Though that night we were in for a fright. It was a perfect peaceful night until about 2:30 am when gun shots went of near by. Many shots fired from what sounded like a semi-automatic riffle. Lastly a single shot after a few moments of silence. Falling back to sleep was hard after that. I had a nightmare that the campsite ahead was shot up and the shooter was on the loose after hikers. Thankfully that was just a terrible dream and the hikers at the campsite ahead didn’t even hear the shots. Though we did run into a couple hikers that slept ahead of us all on Tray Mountain and they had some wild boars all around their campsite that same night. We saw all the rooting around the board had done near that area as we got closer to the top of the mountain. Again, thank goodness it wasn’t us.

Finished our hike that day at Deep Gap shelter. It was a bit of a hike off trail, but we were grateful to get there.

11.7 mile day.

My ankle is now a bigger problem than my knee. Thankfully the knee is getting stronger. Hiking with my ankle wrapped is helping and letting the cool water from the stream at night flow over it is great. We’re planning on getting into town the next day to re-supply and stay in a room to finally wash up and do laundry. The best part is time for a couple good meals. Yay!

We try to air our clothes in the tent every night, but it’s official, we stink!

3.6 mile hike and a prayer to find a ride into town, success. We were fortunate to get a shuttle into town and an amazing meal at a BBQ place by the Budget Inn we’re staying in tonight.

Now I need to ice my ankle and determine if we can make it back on the trail tomorrow or not. Safety first, but we’ve got miles to put in. As wonderful town is to our aching bodies we have many miles to go. We will see. A hope and a prayer and tomorrow is a new day.

I’m so grateful that Ben’s symptoms are mostly at bay as my body breaks under all this extreme pressure. He’s doing great! I feel that maybe me needing to go slow up the mountains might be keeping us from pushing him to a point where his symptoms could flare up. We’re definitely growing strong together and we’re grateful to have each other.

Hope to catch you all up at our next town crossing.

Happy Hiking!

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