A Rough Patch

Today is Saturday, May 25th, and I’m back on the trail again after a few days at home. I’m at Fullhardt Knob Shelter, which is a few thousand feet up but only a few miles north of Daleville, which is where my friend Charlie got off the trail on Wednesday.  

On Wednesday morning, we woke up at Lamberts Meadow Campsite and had a little less than 10 miles to go to get into Daleville, where Charlie’s wife Laurel was going to pick us up. So we packed up camp and got rolling, and the map made the trail look like it was pretty benign, but it turned out to be much more difficult than either Charlie or I had been expecting or, frankly, bargaining for. You know, we were both quite tired after the challenging hikes of the previous few days. Nonetheless, we plodded along. The weather was warm but very clear, and we got some beautiful views along the way.

I had originally been planning to just part ways with Charlie at the trailhead in Daleville and continue hiking from there on my own. But I’d been feeling pretty bad the previous couple days — not because Charlie was there, of course, but I’d just totally lost my appetite. That morning, I’d tried force feeding myself a tortilla with peanut butter for breakfast, but I kept gagging. Everything in my food bag just seemed so dry. I was feeling super weak, too, and my stomach was still a little crampy. Even though I was drinking a lot, I was probably still very dehydrated.

We made it down to Daleville a little bit before 2 o'clock and immediately rushed into the convenience store that was adjacent to the trailhead to purchase a bunch of cold beverages. In Daleville, the trail just spills out onto Route 220, so you're immediately among gas stations, hotels, restaurants, and a bunch of other businesses. It's sort of a weird transition out of the woods, but we’d had a pretty tough hike, so we were excited about being able to access a convenience store right away. I drank an orange juice and a YooHoo, and they totally hit the spot. I followed those with an ice cream sandwich, which tasted good, too. I was definitely craving cold things with moisture.

[Wife note: Based on all my research, I believe he was drinking a passable amount of water but not getting nearly enough electrolytes/sodium. Apparently, a lot of water can become counterproductive if you’re flushing out sodium, magnesium, and potassium. If anyone with medical knowledge who’s reading this has another assessment, though — or advice — please comment!]

Apparently, this isn't necessarily a unique situation. A lot of thru-hikers kind of hit a wall a couple months in. I think people call it “bonking.” You just get overtired and dehydrated, and it negatively affects your appetite and your mood, which then drags you down further. It becomes kind of a self-perpetuating downward spiral. I was definitely bonking, and even though I’d taken a zero at home just about a week earlier, I hadn’t allowed myself to get any substantial rest, so I guess I hadn't done myself any favors.

[Wife note: It’s also really common for AT thru-hikers to hit a mental and physical wall not long after Pearisburg. When it happens, it’s called the “Virginia Blues.”]

By the time Laurel and Charlie dropped me off at home, I was exhausted. I didn't really have much in my stomach besides what I’d eaten at the convenience store a few hours earlier, and I just felt nauseated and didn't want to eat anything else. And the big kicker that really told me something was wrong was that it had been a hot day, I’d done a lot of hiking and a lot of sweating, and the idea of having a cold beer was not appealing at all.

I guess there's a first time for everything. I mean, sometimes when I'm hiking and I'm hot and sweaty, you know, I would seriously consider pushing someone in front of a train for a cold beer. But at this point, I just didn't even want one.

So, I was low on electrolytes, underfed for a couple days, and had been losing a lot of weight. When I was about to get into the shower, S. stopped me and told me to weigh myself first, and I was down 38 pounds! That was definitely not good. You know, the physical part of hiking tends to influence the mental part, and when you start feeling bad, you just don't want to be on the trail anymore. And I definitely reached that point. I was like Why am I out here?

So I definitely needed a day or two off, and it was great to be at home to do it. I had only planned on taking one day at home, but when I woke up on Friday, I actually felt worse than I had on Thursday, so I postponed my return by another day. That afternoon, I took a good three-hour nap, and we ordered takeout for dinner. I got some udon noodles that seemed to go down okay, and I even enjoyed a beer. Then, I got some good sleep that night. So on Saturday morning, I woke up feeling better.

But rather than rushing to get back to Daleville right away that morning, I decided to kind of keep my first day back on the trail on the easier side. It was just under a two-hour drive back, so I asked my dad whether he’d be willing to give me a lift down at around 1 o'clock, which would let me hit the trail shortly past 3 o'clock. And thankfully, he said yes.

When I got back on the trail, I had only about 3.5 three miles to cover before I reached a good campsite I could stay at for the night. When I was getting close to the shelter, I was actually considering going a little bit further, but the sky was getting progressively darker, and I could hear some thunder rumbling, so I focused on getting to the campsite quickly.

As soon as I had set up my tent and shoved everything inside, it started to rain. Fortunately, it was a quick shower and not anything of any substance. But that would have been an unfortunate development, had I stayed out on the trail for longer. Not only would I have pushed it a little bit too far my first day back, I think, but I would have also gotten wet. So keeping things on the shorter side turned out to be a win-win.

Now I've got eight days before I go home again. But this time, it’ll be for a planned visit. I’ll be home for my and S.’s anniversary, and the beer we brewed with Decipher is going to get released [on the 4th], which we're both really excited about. After that, I might take the opportunity to do a little slack packing, so I can keep getting some miles in but also spend another night or two at home.

For now, though, my focus is on just getting enough food into me and keeping hydrated. I made that second goal a little complicated, though, because I somehow managed to leave all my electrolytes at home. I literally have none, and a while ago, I even got rid of the salt pills S. put in my first aid kit. I guess I didn’t think I’d need them with all the LiquidIV and LMNT I was carrying. So I’m just going to be careful about not overdoing it and listen to my body.

I also made a few adjustments to my food supply that I’m hoping will help me keep my appetite going. For one thing, I got some powdered milk and granola and Carnation Instant Breakfast mix, and I plan to combine all those for my breakfast. It should be a lot of calories, a lot of energy, some fat, and hopefully, that will sustain me better through the first part of the day than the dry protein Pop-Tarts were doing. That just isn't enough food for me to start out with, and as it's gotten warmer out, they’ve become less appetizing. I’m hoping that I can get my physical self much stronger with better nutrition and frankly, just more calories, and that that will help my mental state, too. It definitely hasn't been all that great lately. If get my body stronger, I think the hike will start feeling more enjoyable.

At this point, I’m not sure what I’m going to do tomorrow as far as mileage. Unfortunately, the shelters are kind of oddly spaced, so I could either do sort of a medium-sized day — which is probably what I'll end up doing — or push through some bigger miles. The terrain doesn't look too bad, so we'll just see what happens, I guess.