Smell of mountain flowers today coming up the first mountain of the day. Tons of flowers and you bet, I was thinking of you (You know who you are 🙂 ).
Learning about my body everyday when I stretch. I am like…”oh hello muscle…what are you for.” Reminds me of when I was discovering muscles with Conor at the gym.
On top of Max Patch Mountain. The views on this bald were stunning!
Thinking about future plans more. I would really like to take advantage of my high Calorie diet when I return home and start lifting weights. It would be nice to be in the best shape I could be while I am still young. Maybe even work at a gym for a bit too for income and free access off hours while I am thinking of my next moves. A climbing gym would also work. I would like to learn more about my body. More specifically, the muscles and their purposes. During free time I should also do some research on proper human diet. *For those of you who know me on the trail, the dairy industry is a sham! * Speaking of which, I would really like to try and be vegan for 2-3 months, but try it with someone so we could bounce ideas and creations off one another. The orginal thought, was not my own for the record, but the desire is certainly my own.
Chafing was a pretty big problem today…used a little bit of burt’s bees wax because I was too lazy to get my Body Glide out of my bag. This may have worked better anyway. That tingly sensation right between the cheeks. ^-^
It has almost been a month. I really need to start picking up my pace.
Side Notes: Maintenance/Up keep is very required for the ZPacks backpacks. The lightness of there stuff certainly has a cost. I am not one to be rough with my equipment. To put this thought into perspective, I probably drop my phone once every year. I am very careful with my belongings.
Set out today for a 23 mile day, but I left camp late, 8:30am and now I am taking a pretty long break zoning out into my water source, at mile 12.5 for the day at 3pm. I certainly can make it to the shelter before dark based on my current pace, but I do not think I could keep it up for the remainder of the day…maybe I’ll stealth camp (Stealth Camp = To camp outside of the predetermined campsites).
NPA caught up to me at the water source I was zoning out into. I hiked with her a little, but couldn’t up keep the pace, for I was feeling light headed. There is a possibility I missed one of my meals because I had been drinking regularly. To recover, I ate four Cliff Bars (1000 Calories) in one hour, probably burnt through them by the next. Likely going to start eating cold mashed potatoes just to eat during the day for that high Calorie intake. I usually eat once every hour for the record (200 Calories/hour).
Made it to my destination, but I decided to night hike the rest of the way, since the current section was not difficult. I was only hiking for an hour in the dark. I hike all the time with limited hearing (headphones in), so it should not be a problem if I hike with limited vision. Nope, I was terrified hiking in the dark. It was mostly in my head though, scared of the unknown. That somehow the world around me had changed at night. I would hear something and 95% of the time, I would just be hearing my own movement. If I stopped check, the only sound I was able to hear was my own heartbeat. If there comes a time in the future, where a night hike is doable, I will only want to hike then with one or more people.
Side note: Set up tent for first time since day three!
