Coach
Winding Stair Gap - Cold Spring Shelter: 16mi
Excellent breakfast at Lois's Diner (pancakes, eggs, gravy + biscuit, hashbrowns)
Hit the trail at 9:40am in rainy and foggy conditions, which continued all day. Stopped for the day a while before 5:00pm. We made excellent time, but don't really remember most of it. Another 18.4mi push tomorrow.
Professor
Today was hard. But it was a kind of difficult I had not yet experienced..with the exception of straining a muscle in my calf, and all of the normal aches and pains. We hiked faster and stronger of any hike yet if you go by the clock. But it didn't feel that way. It felt hard. Today turned into a mental battle of coming to terms, realizations and questioning the hike. Today was the first time my homesickness was in my forethoughts.
We hiked in a cloud, physically and mentally. We walked through fog and sometimes rain, drippy wet air that you can see floating around you. It was a lost day; happening fast and leaving you wondering. Cold Spring Shelter is living up to its name. Drip. The gurgling of the spring out of Earth's opening. Drip...wind...gurgle...drip...wind in the trees...night falls fast here.
The mental challenge of the trail is the hardest part. You have good days and bad days. Being homesick is part of the journey, but remember, folks back home are cheering you on, as well as keeping you in our thoughts and prayers. We are your biggest fans! So keep putting one foot in front of the other. The clouds will clear, and the sun will shine. You will have memories and friends you will never ever forget! :)
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