Lund Rover

Monday April 24, 2017 Last night Lauren and I zipped our bags together to pool our warmth. It worked well and was definitely warmer, but I had the hardest time keeping my pad beneath me! I swear I "slept" half the night on the wood floor of the shelter. She only had to get up two times to use the restroom though. Major improvements there. I still have such a hard time getting comfortable. I keep thinking I'll get tired enough that I'll just be able to pass out. But instead my body is achy, which makes getting comfortable even more difficult. I think I probably average 4-5 hours of sleep each night. Not ideal. We woke up and got moving around 6:20 am. It was still pretty wet and drizzly. Luckily our boots weren't all that wet though. I'm always surprised at how long it takes us to get packed up and on the road! I went through our food and handed out the remainder of our meals to the rest of the hikers. I also gave Paul the rest of my Ibuprofen. I did get...

Sunday April 23, 2017 I woke up around 6:15 to find almost everyone already packing up! It was kind of a hectic atmosphere with everyone getting ready, mostly because of the weather. It's supposed to rain pretty bad all day long with thunderstorms and stuff. The rain was only a drizzle in the morning though, so all of us wanted to get out there and hike as far as we could before it got worse. We were pretty much all shooting for the Low Gap Shelter about 11.5 miles away. Jacob, Bettie, Bernie (Toronto), Boston Rob, and Mr. Smokes all left before us. We managed to get on the trail at 7:40 though! Not too bad. The only "covered" portion of the Appalachian Trail We started out with our packs covered with the ponchos, making us look like little turtles. Just call us little Leonarda's. Bad joke. We took off at a fairly brisk pace with our packs set so all our snacks were accessible and only things we needed access to on the trail in the top pouch of the backpac...

Saturday April 22, 2017 Today has been weird. It rained some last night, not too bad, but forced us to get into the tent earlier than usual. We chatted for a bit until there was enough of a lull in the rain to let us dash to the bathroom one last time before falling asleep. When we got up it was nice with clear skies. I didn't sleep very well again. Lauren got up like 20 times I swear! Another rough night for the both of us. We got on the trail around 8:40, not too shabby. It seems like it takes way longer than it should to pack up and get moving. Morning of day 4 The morning trail had some awesome views right off the bat. We started the hike "with" Jacob and were able to stop and snap pictures for each other. Preacher's Bald I think is the name of the awesome overlook. For the first 5-6 miles of the hike we were in the zone. My thought process was to push it as fast as I can while I still feel good. It's my feet that hold me back, not my muscles. Th...

Friday April 21, 2017 Nothing too exciting this morning; we got up around 6:30 am. Lauren slept better, but still not great. She said she whacked a mouse off the top of the tent at one point during the night. I slept OK. I just have SUCH a hard time getting comfortable. I'm hoping I get tired enough one of these days and sleep right through. We shall see. Day 3 and still alive We got on the trail by 8:30 ish, still before some peeps (which I'm proud of), to embark on our 13+ mile day. The first 5 or so miles were pretty rough, no water source during this portion either. Lots of long, steep ups and downs. My legs were burning while going up and knees were aching while going down. I like to power through the uphill portions without stopping though. Something about momentum maybe? I usually take off and wait for Lauren at the top. At the final high point (in the first portion of the day) we stopped at a a really nice clearing for a snack. I busted out my camp chair a...