Days 60 & 61 on the Trail

Wildcat Mountains

I said in my last blog Dave would be climbing up and over Wildcat Mountain.  He informed me it's Wildcats Mountains - with a total of 10-11 peaks he climbed in the last two days.

As of 08/18/11:
Miles yesterday and today - 20.8
Miles to date - 673.8

Dave said it was a very hard, but not 'bad' two days.  Wednesday he spent 11 hours going 13 miles, climbing 5 named peaks, having to use his hands (rather than his poles) to help stabilize himself in order to not slip on roots and wet rocks.  Often, when he would get to the top of a mountain, he would look down and think, How in the hell am I going to get down that slope?

Thursday he hiked almost 8 miles in 5 1/2 hours.  The first 5 miles were a continuous very steep up and down, but the last 3 miles were a very nice walk.  He had hiked from 7 AM to 12:30 PM and was famished.  For lunch he ate 3 chicken and rice burritos and a couple of Cliff Bars.  His hunger didn't go away, so he went to the nearby Walmart and bought groceries he can't carry in his pack.  For dinner he ate a footlong Subway turkey and vegetable sandwich, a bag of chips, more Cliff bars and two doughnuts, washed down by 2 beers.  Oh, he had a pint of blueberry cheesecake ice cream for dessert.  When he called at 8 PM tonight, he said he was still hungry.  He's hoping that once he gets off the trail, he won't be compelled to eat until he can't eat any more!

He said his knees were killing him on the downhill hikes and is looking forward to resting them for another day. He said he doesn't want to ruin them for life, and I'm glad he's thinking long term.