2.8 miles: Flint Mountain Shelter to Devils Fork Gap
When I woke this morning I just layed there and listened to the rain come down, totally demoralized. I knew my friends were on their way and I thought that was a great excuse to just go nowhere for awhile. So I waited until everyone left and relocated inside the shelter. My appetite was still nonexistent, but I knew that I had to eat or my energy levels would get dangerously low. So I made the closest thing to chicken noodle soup that I could: Chicken Ramen w/ Goldfish Crackers. I got most of it down. The rest I buried in a cathole in the woods and put a rock over it- the best leave no trace practice I could think of for that situation. By this time the sun had actually come out and it was very rejuvenating, so I laid in the shelter with my head in the sun and took a nap. By the time I awoke again the first hikers had reached the shelter. During the next few hours I naseuously watched people make and eat lunch, and come and go. By the time my friends got to the shelter it was about 3:30 in the afternoon. When they got there we were all very happy to see each other. They planned 22 miles for the day, but after I told them that Miss Janet had invited me to stay in Erwin and would probably pick us up at Sams Gap and slackpack us the next 24 miles to Erwin they became overjoyed and chose to camp 2.8 miles down the trail, which I hiked with them. During the hike I found my energy was very low, I would lose my breath extremely quick and have to take a lot of breaks. Not normal for me at all. It was hard to keep up. Luckily Tric noticed and she hung back and talked with me.
The AT is all about community. There are a few sayings on the trail about it:
"If you wanna go fast, go alone. If you wanna go far, go with friends."
And
"It's not about the mileage, it's about the smileage"
These can be very important rules of thumb if you want your through hike to be enjoyable.
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