14.7 miles!

I hauled this morning! I don't know what happened, but I was leading Nothai and Chef and did 3 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes. I was just cruising! I'm usually like that mornings. The days energy for me is not steady. It is a roller coaster of highs and lows. Maybe I've always been that way, but you don't know it until you are actually exerting yourself all day. It was also another big mileage day - 14.7 miles total! My feet hurt and my body is sore at the end - obviously, but not too much like I pushed too hard. It was a good walk though, the three of us talking about lots of stuff, relationships, etc. and even singing camp/kid songs. I really liked walking by myself before, but I'm also liking hiking with others great company as well. Especially to get different perspectives on things from two people that aren't from the US. We met our second ridge runner, Kentucky Blue who was helpful about what to expect up ahead. A few days ago, Greybeard warned that fires weren't allowed at all right now. He had failed to tell us about the bear sightings though.

So there aren't usually privy's at the Smokey shelters and instead there are 'toilet areas' which we have named 'sh*t hill' because people think somehow it means that you don't have to bury anything and it is okay to leave toilet paper strewn about too! It is so gross - Chef and I have both stepped in human crap once each already. It is really upsetting to see these areas and think about the people (I'd like to think it isn't thru-hikers) that disregard common sense.