Mountain Music taking a break to enjoy the view.
Miles Today: 12.0
Mile Marker: 189.0 Derrick Knob Shelter
I woke up at 6:00 this morning amped and ready to do diddly squat. The wind was still howling and the temperature dropped. Getting out of my sleeping bag wasn't even on my radar let alone my priority list. Today was the kind of day where you lie awake for an hour thinking of calling in sick before you get up and go in. While we have quite a bit of freedom out here, taking an unplanned day off in the woods isn't really one of them. No one carries an extra day of food because it adds another two to three pounds to your pack. Silver lining though, no official start time. I finally rolled out of camp around 10:20.
The no sick days was highlighted when I ran into Fedora and his dad today. Fedora is from Sweden and his dad flew out to do a section of the trail with him. When I saw them yesterday they were BOOKING it down the trail. Today they were dragging. It wasn't until Fedora said he was sick I noticed his dad was carrying both if their packs. Fedora said essentially he was sick all over and was miserable. His dad looks to be in his early to mid sixties and has the build of an ultra runner. It blew my mind he had already hiked three miles up to this point with two full packs. They stopped to take a break and Alex, who is out for spring break, asked if we could help with the load. Fedora's dad gave us maybe five to six pounds from Fedora’s pack. Considering average pack weight is in the thirty to forty pound range, we barely made a dent. They caught up to me every time I stopped to take a break today. Poppa Fedora is a BEAST! And Fedora is way more committed than me. I'm a bit of a baby when I'm sick. Super impressed by both of them today.