Today Was Only About The Miles

Miles: 974.9 - 993.3. Completed: 18.4

Time: 7:04am - 6:45pm

Weather: Cloudy, hot and Humid

Tented at Rod Hollow Shelter

There is no happy medium. We are either drowning in rain and thunderstorms or drowning in our own sweat. This week has been miserably hot. I always thought I could handle the heat better than the cold. I guess I can't do either one. I guess I am SOL.

We saw 3 bears today. After being roared at by Mamma Bear several days ago I didn't care if I ever saw another bear in the wild. Thankful each of these sights the creature was running away as fast as he could. 

I was having a partial panic attack at one point today. The heat, the overgrown trail, and hiking behind Shortcake had me feeling closed in. It took every fiber of my being not to scream. 

I just wanted to get out of the woods. But that won't happen until tomorrow night. Luckily when I had all I could take we came to a trail junction at a State Park boundary. There was even a seat to relax on. The forest opened a tad and I could breathe. We sat on the bench and consumed calories and drank water. As we did a honey bee kept buzzing me. Then I lost it. I roared at it! Then Shortcake and I laughed. It was a great release. That told me I indeed needed to get off the trail for a day or two. But we needed to knock off big miles today to set us up for tomorrow. Today was only about the miles. We pushed and we made it. 

We made it to the shelter in time to get the last two good tent pads. We set up just in time to eat and go to bed. But not before we saw our last bear sighting. A cute cub running passed the privy. That was exciting on one hand and terrifying on the other since it was at camp. 

Happy Hiking.