500!

“What goes up, must come down, spinning wheel round and round… ride the painted pony let the spinning wheel spin” – Blood, Sweat and Tears “Spinning Wheel”

500 miles baby! I get all caught up in whether I’m doing enough miles per day, and sometimes, just to change it up a bit, I worry I’m pushing too hard and am going to burn out. People pass me who started a week or more after me and I get worried. Plenty of people started after me but that doesn’t really register. I worry about my ankle. I worry about my odds of completion. Worrying is stupid. It’s a waste of time. I walked 500 freaking miles and that’s awesome. I’m a hiking machine. I went from Georgia to Virginia on foot, and I took the scenic route, the high road, the hard way. I have to take it easier on myself.

Today we were in wild pony country. The Grayson Highlands and the surrounding area is home to herds of ponies, who keep the grass trimmed and the forest from taking over, so you get these beautiful rocky hills with views that go on forever. Plus Ponies! Come on! These things have no predators and see people all the time so they are fearless. You can walk right up to them and they barely pay attention. Sometimes you have to walk up to them because they’re grazing on the trail. Sure, there’s a lot of poop around, but it’s worth it.

The bad part was the terrain, lots or mud and little rocks. Big rocks can actually be fun to walk across, when things get technical and you have to plot out your course and maybe use your hands. Little rocks suck. Especially if your ankle hurts. We woke up early today and the elevation changes were really not bad, but slowed us way down anyway. Double G had more gas in the tank but I was pretty shot after 13.6 miles. That used to be a solid day, before that it was a big day, now it’s acceptable but below the desired average. The law of diminishing returns applies to the Appalachian Trail as well apparently. But hey, ponies! Did I mention: baby ponies!

The days are getting longer. The sun was going down around eight when we started, now there’s light until nearly nine. I built a fire to get that sweet sense of accomplishment, and with a little help from G’s sitting pad (I call it his butt pad) fanning the flames we had a good roaring campfire going. Odysseus, Gentle G and I hung out and watched the “hiker tv” talking history (world history and our own,) and gear. We showed Odysseus how to hang a bear bag using the PCT method (using a stick in the rope to suspend the bag instead of tying the rope off to a tree trunk) and he inspired me to try to lighten my pack weight.