AT Day 22

2014/4/22 Mile 342

Once again up before everyone so I quietly (as possible) got packed and ate.

Big climb right out of the gates but was rewarded with another 360 degree mountain view from the top of a bald. Sunrise had passed but the dawn-like quality of early morning was still there.

Down the other side of the bald I found Flea and Knoxville. Knoxville proudly described how his big toe's nail had come off last night. Said he had been waiting it for it for a while since it started changing colors. Flea looked ready to vomit from the discussion.

Downhill trending all day but lots of ups and downs. As usual felt solid through lunch then started wearing down. Brief spurts of rain were less intense than anticipated, but I put my homemade tyvek bootcovers on just to test them out. Hard to say how well they work until stronger rains but they did stay on my feet!

Made it to Erwin and pulled into Uncle Johnny's hostel by 1530. Got my own room and picked up my maildrop. 3 boxes this time! One was food. Another was my lighter weight sleeping bag. And the third was my sleeping bag liner purchased during my time in SC.

Dinner was at a Mexican restaurant with dollar beer and dollar tacos. Afterwards we went by Walmart and I grabbed some miscellaneous lunch food, ice cream, and a microwave breakfast for the morning.

Junebug and Tejas/Tex were watching Total Recall on VHS in their room so I joined them and downed my pint of ice cream. After making some calls I got my food organized for the next stint. Pack is heavy again... sad face.

Think I'll sleep in a bit tomorrow. Been feeling pretty run down and I need to keep up the pace. Maybe the 530-600 wake up is a little aggressive.