No Room in the Inn
Thankfully there have been no more emergency issues the past few days. However, Friday was a very long day for Lyle and his small band of hikers (3-4 I think). He has referred to "us" in the last few conversations but I don't know how many are hiking together. They hiked 12 miles to the shelter expecting to stop for the night but the shelter was full and there were no camping spots. His planner said there were no camping spots but they didn't realize it meant "not even any land mass to camp on." Lyle said the shelter was built on the only small spot of flat land and there was not even any place to put up a tent if they wanted to. So, they had to keep going. They ended up hiking over 16 miles to get to a highway. They were tempted to try to hitch into the nearest town, but decided to camp along a logging road in the vicinity. That ended up working well for them as they had a good night's rest.
Saturday was 12 miles with major inclines but not nearly what they have encountered already. They have hiked up inclines where Lyle had to pull his pant leg up to his knee so he could reach the next "step" and we're not talking a short distance, we are talking over an hour to get to the top carrying a 50-lb pack. No wonder he sounds so tired every night when he calls! I can't even imagine the "down" on the other side--you must have to go down dragging your rump to stay on your feet. I think he is going to have to demonstrate that for me!
They expect to be in Wesser, NC, tonight. Lyle will call me on a land line while he is charging his cell battery so we can review the schedule and change the mail drops to match his progress. I hope they decide to take a 0 day (no hiking) to stay in town and rest. He mentioned doing laundry which makes it sound like he is planning a day. He has already worn out one pair of sock liners so I think we'll be investing in additional pairs before this is over.
By the way, if any of you readers want to send a note or a bit of "trail magic" just get it to me, and I'll put it in one of the boxes that I send. You can send an email and I'll print it and put it in the box.
I see on the weather this morning that nasty storms went through the SE states. I hope they didn't get hit with any of the severe storms that ripped through TN and are now heading toward FL. I'll find out tonight I'm sure!
Saturday was 12 miles with major inclines but not nearly what they have encountered already. They have hiked up inclines where Lyle had to pull his pant leg up to his knee so he could reach the next "step" and we're not talking a short distance, we are talking over an hour to get to the top carrying a 50-lb pack. No wonder he sounds so tired every night when he calls! I can't even imagine the "down" on the other side--you must have to go down dragging your rump to stay on your feet. I think he is going to have to demonstrate that for me!
They expect to be in Wesser, NC, tonight. Lyle will call me on a land line while he is charging his cell battery so we can review the schedule and change the mail drops to match his progress. I hope they decide to take a 0 day (no hiking) to stay in town and rest. He mentioned doing laundry which makes it sound like he is planning a day. He has already worn out one pair of sock liners so I think we'll be investing in additional pairs before this is over.
By the way, if any of you readers want to send a note or a bit of "trail magic" just get it to me, and I'll put it in one of the boxes that I send. You can send an email and I'll print it and put it in the box.
I see on the weather this morning that nasty storms went through the SE states. I hope they didn't get hit with any of the severe storms that ripped through TN and are now heading toward FL. I'll find out tonight I'm sure!
posted by Trail Widow | 5:31 AM
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