"We have not inherited the Earth from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our children."
Start: Route 206, Branchville
Finish: High Point Shelter
Today: 14.0 mi
Total: 181.4 mi
As a treat for ourselves we slept late this morning and got a ride to town to pick up some supplies. We ate lunch at a bar next to a beautiful lake and afterwards sat in the shade of a tree watching the water. Our knees resisted the days hike but in the battle of us versus our knees, we eventually won by 1:30 PM.
I felt really good hiking this afternoon. Each day my body grow stronger and I'm able to do more. I efficiently choose my footing and quickly moved forward. I listen to the tapping of my poles, the rhythm of my breath, and the cadence of my boots crunching the gravel below. Heather and I have come to crave these tough workouts where you arrive at camp completely exhausted. Out of nowhere, Heather said the trail is "my friend again."
It even seemed as though the bugs and I had some unspoken agreement today. They would swarm around me In a cloud of black flies, mosquitoes, and regular flies but never attacked. My entourage of flying friends left me alone so I didn't use bug spray at all...until a few hours later when they broke our treaty (don't trust flies).
After just two hours and 30 min we arrived 5.7 miles into the day at Sunrise Mountain. A famous record holding hiker, Jennifer Pharr Davis, who we met earlier this year arrived here during her 2003 thru-hike to find a person who had committed suicide. On my hike up I wondered what this person was going through and feeling to come to that point. At my first glimpse of the pavilion at the peak, I wondered what he thought when the building came into view - was he nervous and unsure about his last act or was he emboldened and re-assured by the sight of the pavilion. Even in this somber moment I couldn't help be in all of the beautiful 360° views and found comfort that this person died in such a beautiful place. After a half-hour of resting our feet with boots off, we left the comfort of a bench and the shade of the pavilion to walk north along the ridge.
A few hours of hiking later, at 6:30 PM, we needed to make another decision. Yesterday we had decided to go another nearly 4 miles at this time. Today, even though we might have to headlamp it in the dark near the end, we decided to go another 5.5 miles. With 3.5 miles to go (around 7:30 pm) I rolled my ankle pretty bad on a loose rock. Despite the pain I carefully moved on. It should feel fine in a couple of days but sure hurts now! We finally arrived at our destination at 9 pm.
~DADDY LONG LEGS
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