I had a slow morning and forgot Bo’s plastic 2L food bowl somewhere at the shelter. Spoons left before me, and we are shooting for the same shelter for the evening.

I had a very tough morning. My thighs apparently chaffed pretty bad yesterday, and I didn’t realize until this morning. My skin is red and peeling. I tried many combinations: shorts with underwear, shorts without underwear, pants without underwear, and then settled on pants with underwear and pain, lol. It was a tough 6 miles because I did not eat enough, and once I had an early lunch, I felt better. Before lunch, I really struggled to put one foot in front of the other.

I felt pretty slow today. My feet were killing me, and Bo was pulling a lot. The mayapples are blooming, and I was glad to make it to the shelter today. Spoons pushed on to Hot Springs to finish up the downhill for the day. I made another rambomb and some flavored water. There’s a group here that is taking a class to learn how to backpack. I almost set up my tent under a snag. Luckily, someone told me to look up, and I just laughed. Someone dropped off beer and suckers so of course I had to have one–and they were still cold!

I want to work on being in the moment more and not worry about mileage, speed, time of day, and catching up to people. I’m trying to put in miles to get as close as I can to Demascus in order to go back to Blacksburg for my friend’s graduation. I’m looking forward to a big breakfast at the diner in Hot Springs tomorrow morning!

Day: 30

Date: 5/4/2025

Miles: 14.82

Camp: Deer Park Mtn Shelter

At Mile: 272