New Pains and New Views: Day 25

Today we had to make up the extra miles that we were not able to accomplish yesterday. 18 miles. Woooooo the day started foggy and soggy. The clothes we tried to dry off over the fire and hung up were just at wet as when we went to bed. Gotta love the humidity of the south. We pressed on and came across our first salamander. The bright orange and red lizards were crawling all over the trail. We paused to take photos since they were so vibrant against the brown puddles that was the trail. Today we were supposed to be hitting Max Patch. Max Patch was the first of many grassy balds that the AT crosses. A Bald was an open field or meadow that was on top of a mountain usually giving a 360 degree view of the surrounding areas. I groaned up the side of the mountain alone while Kyle was behind me and Danny and Kory had bolted off ahead to not miss the patch of good weather we were having at the moment. I was rewarded with a 5 minute view before the mountain top was covered with clouds. Today I was experiencing a new pain. My entire left food was tender when I placed weight on it. Not enough to stop me from hiking, but just enough to give me discomfort. By the end of the day, I was hobbling around. Dear Lord I’m so glad we are going into town tomorrow. We were blessed with a five mile stretch after Max Patch that was surprisingly flat. It was a gift from the Mountain Gods. We only had 1.5 up after this. Maybe I’ll actually make it one piece. By the time we got to the shelter it was just about to storm. This shelter was the smallest most decrepit shelter we’ve experienced yet. The four person shelter was perched on top of a a ridge where the wind blew directly into the shelter. We set up our tents and braced ourselves for a windy night.