July 3.
OUR HIKE ENDS
When I woke up this morning, I knew that trying to hike 13 miles with my 30+ pound pack and aching feet was not going to make for a very enjoyable day. So, we devised a plan. We would hike a mile down the trail to where it intersected a road. Nate and I would stash our backpacks in the underbrush and mark the spot on our map so as to return for them later with the car. We would carry water and lunch stuff only. Nate would even be able to wear his toed “camp shoes” to hike in instead of boots as he had some blisters forming on his heels too.
Once again, the weather was hot and sunny. The trail took us through giant boulders and rock formations, up and down hills, and across meadows and fields. Nate and I were able to keep up and enjoy the day. Castaway hiked with his full pack on as he has no need to “slack pack” for ONLY a 13 mile hike. 🙂 As we were climbing the one giant hill, I started singing “I don’t miss my pack…not even one little bit” and I could hear Castaway chuckling behind me.
We arrived at Boiling Springs in time to enjoy a meal with dad before dropping him off at the bed and breakfast, retrieving our packs, and heading for home. To help me rest my feet, Nate shared in the driving on the 4 hour drive home. When I saw a sign for a rest area 2 miles ahead, I said to him “I’ll switch with you in 2miles.”. He glanced over in mock outrage and said with a panicked voice, “In 2miles! But it will take us an hour to go that far!!” ….and it would’ve if we were still on the AT.