I got up and out of the hostel by 7:30am this morning with a 11-15 mile day planned depending oh how I felt. Every morning and throughout the day I check with my Far Out App and my AT Guide to get a general plan for my day.

I check out available water sources so I can decide how much to carry (water is damned heavy). I try to carry just enough to get me to the next water source. I almost always over carry, but I’m getting better. I think it is a Mom habit to have more than you need, juuuust in case disaster strikes.

I check out possible places to stop for lunch and breaks. I’m usually too tired to cook and eat a hot meal in the evening. Especially if I am also setting up a full campsite. However, I need the calories. I was waking up with a headache from not eating enough. So now I try to stop for lunch and cook a meal then. Today I had chicken curry made by Alisha and then dehydrated by Alisha. It was excellent! The long lunch break also gives me the opportunity to get my second wind.

I check out the topography. There are lots of PUDS (Pointless UPS and Downs) when hiking the AT. Knowing how much ascent and descent and where in the day they will fall can really help me figure out when I need breaks and how far I can go.

I look for where I can camp. I try to find several options. If I get to the first campsite where I’m thinking about ending my day, but I feel good like I can keep going, I want to know is it 2 miles to the next possible site or 5 miles. Knowing that helps me figure out whether to stay or go.

Also with GPS tracking the app can tell me at any given time how far away I am from the next landmark or destination I am interested in.

Today was the best weather I have had in the two weeks on the trail. It didn’t rain, but it wasn’t too hot. Did a couple of small rock scrambles and they are much easier to do when the rocks are dry!

I started out about an hour behind my friend Rocky, 69 year old retired English teacher and 30 minutes behind my friend Bama, retired MP. They stayed the last two nights at the hostel with me. I caught up to them just before lunch. We decided to have lunch together at the next shelter a few miles away.

Bama started having back spasms that made it almost impossible for him to walk any further. He staggered into the shelter and we helped get him situated so that his back could relax. It took about 30 minutes or so, but he finally felt good enough to continue. So we convinced him to get off trail and find an urgent care. Im happy to report that he got the meds that he needed and will spend two nights at a hotel and then rejoin us on the trail.

Rocky and I continued on for several more miles talking about our favorite books. We stopped at the Green Mountain General Store and had some ice cream and had a nice break before making it to our chosen campsite. She is tenting and I am hammock camping. There are several other people from the hostel also camping here and several more passed through and greeted us on their way to bigger miles. I’m almost always alone when I hike, but I haven’t been alone yet at a shelter, campsite, or hostel.

I posted a photo above of my campsite. What you are really looking at is my fly. It is like a hanging tent that goes over my hammock. It keeps my hammock from getting wet if it rains and it gives me some privacy to change into my pajamas. My hammock is hanging inside of or under the fly. I’ll try to take a picture of just the hammock soon. I hang things on the fly and/or hammock lines to dry or air out overnight. I hang my backpack under the hammock to keep it dry, but only after I remove all food, trash, and anything smelly (toothpaste, etc). I hang food and anything that smells about 100 feet away in a bear resistant bag.

Some people will sleep (foolishly imo) with their food, but I don’t want to give a bear or any other animal any reason to sniff around my campsite.