Continuing from the 6th day. It was 7:30pm when I stopped. My knees were in super pain. GA mountains are killing me. I couldn't find a camp area when I stopped, so I went across the street down a slope where there was no campsite so I made one. I was hurting and so tired I had a hard time setting up the last little stake in the ground with my feet. I was almost in tears, but then it went in. Right after that an owl hooted ... God reminding me He is there. I might have done about 5 miles for such a long day. 7th day was another slow day. I did about 6 miles and stopped at the next shelter, Low Gap. 3 boys passed me that I met a few days ago and they saved me a space in the shelter. You have no idea how much I needed that. That night at dinner, I was dubbed, "Betty Crocker" by "Pheasantmelon" with his walking pole. We finished the night with my first campfire on the A.T. This was my best day even though I was in so much pain. Jeff is picking me up tomorrow evening to go to Helen, GA. 8th day. I did 10 miles. I met James and Rebekah at lunch and Jeff gave them a ride to the same place we stayed at. The rest of the evening the four us us hung out together, walking around German town, eating dinner, doing laundry, and playing cards. 9th day. Rose rested, sort of. Happy Easter! In the morning, we met James and Rebekah for breakfast, shopped, dropped them off at the start of where we picked them up. Jeff and I went to Hiawassee to pick up a knee brace, eat a late lunch and play some cards. For dinner we had a candy apple and we were complete. That night I realized that I got the wrong knee brace. They need to breathe. 10th day. I shopped for a different knee brace and got a late start on the hike. I'm taking it easy today. 11th day was another hard mountain. Kelly, a lady that I met a few days ago, was there at the shelter. I made it to the shelter before the rain came. We had great teamwork, hanging a tarp and trying to keep the shelter dry. The wind was blowing the rain in the shelter. Kelly and I will be hiking together. 12th day. We got rained on and made it to the shelter area early. It was nice to get to learn more about people. A couple from Australia changed plans to do the A.T. A German man has a 6 month visa just to do this like. Great thanks to Bill, Tom, Rachael (Glacier Swiss) who are a few of the people that help take care of the GA A.T. ridge runner. 13th day. We made it to NC! The first part was bad. We were rained on again. This will be a pattern and cold. Great to be on the home front. 14th day. This was my first 12 mile day. I was in pain after, but we had cloud cover and no rain until we made it to bed. 15th day. Zero day in the shelter ... cold and rain ... a lot of us stayed around. Cold is getting to me. Knees are getting better. I'll be home Wednesday for a couple of days, then back out Friday, hopefully. 16-17th day. Rose went home to buy different gear and visit people. 18th day. I'm back on the trail, it was hot, short hiking day. Nice to be back. Very nice weather, made camp area early and to bed. Yes, I eat! 19th day was long, hot, and got rained on at least 3 times. 12 miles are hard but keep trying. The shelter area was on the trail. Took a cold bath on the creek, was refreshing. Side note: Fire effected so much along the Appalachian Trail. Thank goodness for all the volunteers that keep up with the A.T. Wayah bald was one the very obvious places to see this effect. 20th day was a late start with rain and fog.... surprisingly clear and hot day. Wesser Bald was a gorgeous view. Stayed in shelter, good think because it rained. 21th day (May 1) was hard rainy. Some parts of this hike down the mountain is rock climbing. Last mile was sunny and fairly easy. Tomorrow is rock climbing up just as much.
0 Comments
Hi! This is Roses friend Jeff. Rose had a little technical problems with loading up her latest posting. She will be able to share with you in her own words about this week and add some of her pictures from along the way when she gets a chance. She did receive her trail name this week. A fellow thru hiker named Pheasant Melon dubbed her with the name Betty Crocker :-) She has met several nice people along the way this week. I was able to meet a few of them when I met up with her for a "zero" day in Helen, Georgia. Saturday evening we had a very nice German meal with James and Rebekah. Afterwards, went to the laundrymat. While waiting, James and I schooled Jame's wife Rebekah and Rose on the art of playing Spades. They were a cool couple! As Rose mentioned before, her knee has been giving her some pain. Please continue to pray for her knee and for her hike. She purchased a knee support and Advil while taking her down time. I'll let her share more a little later.
First of all a few Thank You's.
Family and friends, thank you all for your support and motivations. Thank you, Jeff and Steve, for driving me. God picked the right people to send me weekly shipments at no cost to me (Jack and Linda), thank you, luvs. Aunt Pat, thank you for the GPS, quite handy. Thank you Becca for letting me use your backpacking gear. Crazy thank you, Nancy, for letting me use your convection ovens and kitchen. Thank you St. Mark's Church family for standing by me right from the beginning. Thank you to anyone else I forgot. All the prayers I received before and continue to receive, thank you! 1sr day was Appalachian Approach Trail - it was strenuous. Right at the beginning was 604 steps to the waterfall ... the view was gorgeous! I'm sore. I hiked 7.3 miles. Staying in a shelter, ibuprofen is going to be my best friend. Beauty is blooming all around me. The hammock is not working out. You have to enter from the bottom. Staying in shelters until my tent gets here except for one location. Hopeful and still moving forward. 2nd day was great. So everyone knows, I slept 9 hours. The next leg was like hiking Warren Wilson and I did about 9.5 miles. After yesterday's hike, this was nice. I got to camp early. 3rd day kicked my buttocks, but at the water creek, I sat in the water to cool my body down. I was able to make shelter with 1 hour of day light left. I saw a Barn Owl flying overhead just as the sun was going down, and in the morning it was just sitting on a branch waiting for me to open my eyes. 4th day was a little easier and I talked to a lot of people. So many people from around the world do this. There's a guy here, his name is Fred, who was in the US military and he lives in Germany and he came just to do this like. Fred's wife is following him in a car. There is also a man who doesn't speak any English who I think is from another country. Slept in the hammock - too much work when your already too tired. 5th day was the hardest so far to Neels Gap. My poor knees are just shaky and painful and I don't know how they made it so far, but somehow they keep going. I slept in a cabin with 3 other people. 6th day is slow and easy. My knees are in pain so lots of long stops. Hoping to get in a few miles. |
AuthorHi! My name is Unnathi Rose. Welcome to my blog about my experience hiking the Appalachian Trail. I try to update my page weekly.
Categories |