Twenty miles feels like a really long day when hiking alone. In my experienced opinion, hiking alone sucks. It’s just boring with nobody to talk to and no distractions to help pass the miles.
I’ve had to slow my pace considerably today because my feet just wouldn’t go any faster. I still haven’t found shoes with the right support for me. The last 3 days have started with 3,000 ft climbs. Tomorrow starts with a 3,000 ft descent instead, followed immediately by a 3,000 ft climb.
I’m really looking forward to a shower and a beer tomorrow night, it’s the motivation that’s gotten me through the past couple of days. I catch wiffs of myself every so often and it’s really not good.
The group has been doing some research, instead of renting individual kayaks to blue blaze up the Shenandoah River we’re going to buy two 5 person inflatable rafts instead. It’ll be cheaper overall and we’ll have more freedom to float at our own pace without a deadline to meet. Hopefully the inflatable rafts are durable enough, but we’ll see how it goes.
Day 73 Mileage: 22.4 mi [Brown Mountain Shelter -> Priest Shelter]
Total Mileage: 837.8 mi