We are currently taking a zero day at a fantastic little place in Suches, GA after 3 days on the trail. Our total mileage is around 26.3 miles not counting all the side quests off trail for water sources and shelters.
Michael has shoes that are half a size too small so he switched to hiking in Crocs. We get to Mountain Crossing Outfitters after summiting Blood Mountain next and we hope to get him better shoes. Bonus- he gets to toss the old shoes on the shoe tree.
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I have a few minor things like sore shoulders from the tank top (used my toe socks now as a barrier). But mostly, my feet haven’t been keeping up. Arms, legs and core strong. My feet are getting super sore. Thankful for our zero day to give them some rest.
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Last night, we went a few miles further than planned and skipped Gooch Gap Shelter to find a beautiful mountain top tent site (the peak right before Ramrock mountain).
We aren’t social hikers, don’t like being that close to people and so the dispersed camping works out better for us. One guy did show up but he was quiet and passed the vibe check.
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By this point, looks like the trail is really quiet. On Day 1 we ran into many chatty single and paired up hikers and a whole boy scout troop that were noisy AF at Hawk Mountain Shelter.
We haven’t seen a single soul on Day 3 after the one guy started his hike ahead of us and it is amazing.
I’m loving my Katadhin Be Free. It filters water so fast. Michael has a Sawyer Squeeze Mini with him and it’s a step down from the full size so next time we do this, we will make some water filter adjustments.
Water is fucking heavy by the way 😆 so I’m figuring out exactly how much to carry based on water sources.
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I was really worried about the weather with all the heat waves and dried up water sources but it hasn’t been that bad and I actually needed my quilt at night.
Being able to stop and take a breather by the creeks is one of my favorite parts of this experience so far. Something about being near water always lifts my spirits.
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Oh and the VIEWS.
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Tomorrow, we let our beat up bodies heal a bit and then we summit Blood Mountain the biggest mountain on our section hike.
Our mileage targets also slowly increase so really send good thoughts my feet’s way!!