Highs and Lows

Okay, it’s Tuesday, May 21st, and tonight, I'm at the Lamberts Meadow Campsite at around mile 721 on the AT. Charlie and I hiked about 11 miles today and got some really good sights in.

We woke up at our stealth camping spot this morning and got going by around 7 a.m., which was great, because it would give us plenty of time to enjoy the scenic spots we were going to be visiting today. The first one was McAfee Knob, which was about four miles into the day, and we were able to cover that pretty quickly.

McAfee Knob is generally considered the most photographed spot on the entire AT, and for good reason. On a clear day, especially, it’s pretty hard to beat. And for a little while, we actually had McAfee totally to ourselves, which was fantastic. We were able to get all the requisite photos, but by the time we were done doing that, many, many other people had moved in. That's the way it normally is up there. Nonetheless, we probably spent about an hour there. It's just such a beautiful view, and it was a nice day. And while we were hanging out, I made sure to drink a whole liter of water with an LMNT in it to try to stay hydrated.

Eventually, we needed to move on. And thankfully, the terrain today wasn't nearly as extreme as it was yesterday coming off of Dragon's Tooth. There were still some decent ups and downs, though. About a mile down off of McAfee Knob, there’s a campsite called Pig Farm. Not really sure why it's called that. Anyway, we stopped there briefly to refill our water stores, and the water source seemed like it was a zillion miles away from the campsite, though that's usually the case these days. You generally have to walk pretty far to get water.

And while I was getting water — I had my pack off, thankfully — I slipped and took a pretty big tumble. Luckily, I stuck my hand out as I fell, because my face smashed right into the back of my hand, which was on a rock. Otherwise, my head would have hit that rock directly. Another hiker was nearby and rushed over to check on me. I was hurrying to get up, and he was like, “Whoa, whoa, man. Stay down!” And he had me go through a kind of self-assessment before I stood up. Like, was I bleeding anywhere and was I dizzy and did I feel like I’d twisted anything. I really appreciated his taking the time to check on me like that. I kept thanking him, and he kept saying he hadn’t done anything, but it certainly didn’t feel that way to me. I really wish I’d gotten his name, but he moved on before I thought to ask.

Luckily, I was okay, though in the process of falling, I managed to twist my back fairly well. So for the rest of the day, I had a bit of a sore back. It could have been a lot worse, and I think it was kind of a knock-on effect of my already weakened state. I'm just not eating enough on the trail, and it's also getting warmer out, and I'm definitely sweating more than I usually do — and I already sweat a lot.

And when you're hot and sweaty and dehydrated, eating a lot of calories is just not appealing, so I'm trying to figure out a good balance. I obviously haven't been able to do that yet. But it's absolutely critical that I get this right, because I can't keep losing weight like I have and not ingesting a sufficient number of calories, because then I get weak. And when I’m weak, I have stupid incidents like me falling while I'm trying to get water.

We made our way back to the trail and headed to the third leg of Virginia’s Triple Crown, which is Tinker Cliffs. The first two legs are Dragon’s Tooth, which we did yesterday, and McAfee Knob. As we were hiking along, I heard a rattle and immediately jumped backward. And Charlie and I watched as this fairly sizable rattlesnake took its sweet time slithering across the trail in front of us and into the leaves. I’d almost stepped on it, but luckily, this was one of the most courteous rattlesnakes I’ve ever come across, because it made sure to let me know it was there.

Tinker Cliffs was absolutely beautiful, and supposedly, you can see McAfee Knob from there. We tried and were able to make out what we think was possibly McAfee Knob on a distant mountain. It looked like some sort of rock outcropping near the peak of the mountain, so we just assumed that that's what it was, but it wasn't abundantly obvious.

From there, we hiked down a little less than two miles to our campsite, which is a fairly nice spot alongside a rapidly flowing stream, which will make getting water super easy. That’s great. Also, they have a bear box here, which is a luxury. People have actually been reporting seeing a bear in this area lately, and now we won’t need to hang our food bags.

We sat down to have some food with another hiker we just met whose trail name is Muffin Man. His family owns and runs a bakery in Maine called the Cookie Jar, and his job there is making the donuts. [Wife note: I’m sorry, I feel like this is some sort of joke. He makes donuts at a place called the Cookie Jar, and his trail name is Muffin Man?] We talked a lot about food and how difficult it is to eat sometimes, and definitely how difficult it is to eat enough, apparently, and he was like, “Look, you just have to force it in.”

He went on to eat for a good 40 minutes, whereas Charlie and I were done eating in about 10, and he hikes 25 miles a day, if not more, so he's sort of living proof. I've just got to figure out a way to get more calories in. I need to (A) be hydrated and (B) find something foodwise that’s actually appealing to me after a long day of hiking. I've just been feeling very weak. I actually decided to head back to Charlottesville with Charlie for yet another zero at home, so I can kind of hit the reset button before I get back on the trail.

When I was putting my bear bag away, I bumped into a guy whose trail name is LT — he was a lieutenant in the fire department. I hadn't seen him in probably 550 miles, maybe more. And he was actually part of a story I shared a long time ago, just before I hit 100 miles. I commented on how annoyed I was at some guy for talking at maximum volume on his phone and kind of ruining a nice moment for me. But then soon after, he did me a favor, so it was a good reminder for me to not start flapping my gums and yelling at people for things like being loud on the phone. So that guy's name was Easy, and the guy he was hiking with was LT. Unfortunately, Easy is now off the trail, but LT has been sticking it out. So it was interesting to cross paths with him again after all this time and catch up a little.

As a final note, in case anyone was wondering, The Juice Lives On. I got confirmation of this in writing on Tinker Cliffs, which was kind of funny. I guess I’m still following The Juice around.