I went to bed last night with both feet wrapped, and laying on a stack of pillows. That combined with the hot tub treatment really paid off. I woke up and could tell right away I was feeling better than I had probably since day 1. I took advantage of the AYCE breakfast at the Holliday Inn, checked out, and got a ride back to Dick’s Creek Gap. I actually started off with both feet still wrapped with an ace bandage but I paused to take them off after only a mile or two. Getting moving again only made them feel even better. There was still some lingering soreness and stiffness but I felt like I was flying compared to the last four days of hiking.
I don’t recall ever producing as much sweat in one day as I did today. Ended up doing 11.8 miles and over 4500 feet of total elevation gain – the sun was out but the humidity was high. An uphill focussed day was actually good for the feet too, there’s less bending at the ankle joint going uphill than there is coming down. About eight miles in, i came to a significant milestone – the Georgia / North Carolina border. One state down, 13 to go. I had been excited to get past Northern Georgia since it’s touted as one of the hardest sections, but the first two miles of North Carolina was some of the toughest climbing yet. It wasn’t as rocky and rugged as earlier sections but it was quite steep. The afternoon brought darkening skies portending of rain, and the shelter was a couple of miles down the trail. I picked up the pace, still mostly pain free, hoping to get there and stay dry. I didn’t quite make it, the rain started coming down about a mile from the shelter. I was also worried that it would be full since it’s a Saturday evening, and I had talked to about 20 people who were going to be staying at the previous Plumorchard Gap Shelter. My fears were unfounded, however. I arrived at Muskrat Creek Shelter to find only one person. Tori showed up in a couple of minutes, and DJ eventually made it as well, so we ended up with four of us. We’re hoping the forecasts are correct and this will be last rain for several days. Tomorrow should be an easier but slightly longer day.