- Miles: 797.8-807.3 (9.5 mi.)
- Total ascent: 860’; descent: 2037’
Nothing is more seductive than sitting beside the trail with friends. In the morning, it is easy to forget about all those miles, becoming more rushed and late with every minute you spend with all the cool, hardcore people in one of the most beautiful places you’ve seen since yesterday.
With Drafty, a thin and friendly Tennesseean who worked on cell towers; Not So Bad, an Oklahoman with tattoos of her favorite vegetables; Zen, a quick and steady maritime business student, and, 20 minutes after the rest, Ref, an introverted young woman biology student who referees youth and varsity basketball.
Our occasion to sit was the 800-mile mark, marked by pine cones and laurel “800”s at a gap with a tent site. We got past all the introductory “Where are you from?” and gear-based small talk to really connect. It was the sort of conversation you remember more by how it felt, just laughing at small jokes and jabs, than by what was actually said.
The downside of all this fun, of course, was that it put us behind. It was noon before we’d gone a quarter of the day’s miles, the sort of deficit it’s difficult to catch up from.
The trail reminds me of college in that there are a million fun things you can do, but what you need to do is to put in the time on the tough stuff. It is easy to take all the opportunities to socialize, to survey the surroundings, and simply to sit down; and to worry about the plan some other time.
I’m not here to beat myself up about it–the people are a big part of the experience–but Rachel and I are going to hike further and in less desirable elevation configurations because of it.
The good news is, we can go 16.8 miles, instead of the originally planned 15, and camp less than a mile at what we suspect is a better site, to make up half of the day’s deficit. The day after that, we will add the other three to a nine-mile day.
Another joy of today was a waterfall-side lunch with Ref, who’s gluten intolerant and sounds very limited in her trail funds. She eats a lot of potatoes and grits, our favorites, and wants to do life sciences research. We hiked separately from there, but saw each other off and on through the afternoon.
The afternoon hike was like the morning: covered in green, with ferns and pines and lots of creek crossings. We took full opportunity to carry less water, especially on such a cool day. Not for much longer will our daytime highs be in the mid-70s. Wearing long sleeves and pants will feel unbearable, but will in fact still be more bearable than the mosquitoes and ivy some days.
It is good to make friends, but it’s even better to do it on our time budget. On our best days, at least, we have the discipline and the flexibility to do both.
