BMT/AT Figure 8 Day 48: Churning Out 20 Miles
Day 48, Monday, October 19, 2020
Lance Creek Tenting Area (Mile 2169.1) to Stealth Site on Stover Creek (Mile 2189,2)
Mile 535.4
Miles Hiked: 20.1
I’m not gonna lie, y’all. I’m ready to do something else now. Something other than spend my entire day walking in the woods.
So today I became that hiker I usually try hard not to be. I became that hiker who puts her head down and churns out miles.
I churned out 20.1, stopping for lunch at Gooch Mountain Shelter where two years ago there had been three owlettes and their mama owl hanging around in the middle of the day. A man on the trail told me there had been 14 hikers at Gooch Mountain last night, and that’s when I knew my shelter-avoidance strategy over the last two weeks had been sound. Bulletproof.
I only took two photos all day, so busy was I churning.
Last night, I lay awake in my tent, watching the new moon set through the open doors, trying to decide between Option A—stick to the plan, finish Wednesday—or Option B—blow through some miles and save my last pack of ramen for another time.
Then I remembered how good it feels sometimes to push through what you think are your limits. Once I decided to go for it, I fell right to sleep. This morning, I packed up in the dark and hiked out by headlamp and, what do you know? I don’t even feel wasted after rolling through those 20 miles.
I wanted to see how it feels to hike 20 miles.
It feels good.
