Jon and I made it to Neels gap today. So far the weather has been great. Mostly sunny with just one day of rain. The biggest problem we've had so far aside from my blisters is that we brought way too much food to start with which has made our packs heavier than we would like. We had our packs looked over by the "experts" at the outfitters here and got rid of four pounds between us. Next we just have to eat more of our food. Both Jon and I have had some knee problems caused by walking downhill. Downhill is much worse than going uphill.
We don't know for sure where we will stay tonight but it will be a short day to recover and repack. We hope to be in Hiawassee, GA 31.7 miles from here by Sunday. It's 11 miles off the trail so we'll have to hitch a ride. Next update will probably be from Hiawassee.
-Dave
Way to go guys!
ReplyDeleteDiana
I made mommy shellbell necklace, from Helena
Hi Guys,
ReplyDeleteDon't be afraid to really limit your miles early on and take days entirely off the trail during your first month or so of hiking if you haven't been able to do a lot of preparatory hikes. It just takes time for your (everyone's!) tendons and ligaments to strengthen in response to the stresses of hiking, especially on a rugged trail like the AT. Once you've had time to adapt, you can gradually do more miles per day until, at some point, you'll be surprising yourselves at how far you can go comfortably - well, relatively!
One other thought re: downhill knee pain. You might try grabbing a stick from the woods to use as a walking stick when going downhill.
Holly and I are supremely jealous of your time on the trail. Have a great trip!
Paul and Holly Monkman
PCT Thru-Hike '98
CO Trail Thru-Hike '95