3/6 Hiawassie

Day 9
The past three days have been intense. Me and the small group that i've been hiking with have been quickly upping our mileage from 7miles a day to 12 and 13, and needless to say, i've been feeling it. Each day i seem to get a new pain that gains a good amount of my concern. One of the worst things i can think of is being forced off trail for a knee or hip injury. The good thing is that with each day, a different part of my body hurts, and the previous pains subsides. I hope that cycle continues and i don't develope anything serious. But After a night in town and a short day of hiking ahead of me, my body is getting some of the rest it needs. I would appreciate it if you could keep my health in prayer, for thats my main concern right now.

Sometime tomorrow morning, I'll be passing out of Georgia, and putting a 79 mile section of the trail behind me. The passing of my first state border is something that i really look forward to, symbolizing my first small step towards completion. 13 states left.

After a little while a group of me and a few other guys almost formed itself. Lonliness was an aspect of this trip i really worried about; but, so far, i've hardly experienced any. I don't know how long we'll stick together, but it's been really encouraging to be in good company. Our group consists of me, Chef, Boxelder, Mel, and Milkman.

On an other note, two days ago we got word of a storm that was rolling in that night. So everyone aimed to get to the next shelter. When i arrived there were two more spaces but a group of girls were just behind me so i left my space to them. We set up our tents, did our camp chores and hung out for a while until the wind started to roll through the mountains. It just so happened that the shelter and campsite was on top of Tray Mountain, around 4,200 feet elevation. Not the best place to be during a major storm. Considering that i hadn't used this tent in the rain or extreme wind before, i was pretty concerned about how it would hold up. When the storm hit full force, i layed awake for hours picturing my rainfly being ripped off in the intense wind leaving me defenseless against the storm or my tent being blown off the mountain with me in it. Eventually i fell asleep amidst the tornadoe-esk wind beating blankets of rain against my tent, and the the crashes of lightening on surrounding mountain tops. When i awoke in the morning, i was dry but cold, and went outside to see my tent covered in a layer of ice and snow, along with the ground around me.

When i got to town that evening, i learned that what i feared happening to me, happened to Boxelder that night. he woke up at two in the morning in his tarp tent with everything, including his down sleeping bag drenched. (Down has no insulating properties when wet) Fearing hyporthermia he packed up all his things in the middle of the night, and hiked 11 miles, mostly in the dark, to the road crossing to Hiawassie that we were aiming for that day. Survival is a main theme here on the trail. Alot of your thoughts consist of how much food you have left, the next water source, how to stay warm, methods to keep away bears, and what you would do in an emergency such as that. It's an interesting change from the tamed and sometimes overly comfortable city life, to thinking of you own survival in the wilderness, days from the next town.