Friday 5-21

Fairly easy day with one big climb that went a 4th of the day.

Ultra light packer

At a shelter in a few miles I met a light pack guy, his weight w food and water is 19 lbs. Mine leaving hot springs was 44. He is hiking with what looks like a day pack. This is an interesting breed of hiker, it is mostly experienced hikers that have either hiked the AT before or hiked other trails. They are obsessed with weight, and the more they shed In one area, the more they can shed in others. Ex: smaller sleeping bag, less clothes, less food, requires a smaller pack to carry it all a smaller pack requires smaller rain cover, and so on. They obsess over everything, tags in shirts, cutting triangles is the crocs to make them lighter, trim all the straps. While generally it's not my style, I do listen and get great suggestions. I can shed some serious weight in Erwin. These guys are truly living the minimalist lifestyle out here, to some extent it's why we hike.

The beginning of the elevAtion ran along a river. Since it was raining all morning, it was a good place to finally have breakfast. It was a long climb to the top, really foggy, interesting trail. I ended up at hogback ridge shelter and logging an 11 mile day.

My left foot was really killing me, needed 4 ibuprofens to get through the day.