Day 24

Day 24 (PT 9): 31 miles

After I went to bed last night I woke up to a loud thunderstorm. It was visually and audibly distracting so it kept me up for a while

Even though there is a strong incentive to get up early, I still find myself oversleeping. After I did wake up, I started the day like any successful person does, I ate 3 cold McDoubles.

I was sweating by the time I left camp from the heat, and it only got hotter from there. It was a hot, long, and slow climb up to Cheoah State Park but it was nice once i got up there. It was a high ridge and was at least slightly cooler than the lower elevation. It was a very beautiful area, certainly the best of the trail.

In the afternoon, a storm rolled in. It started to rain and thunder overhead, but I was overjoyed. With that, the temperature dropped 10-15 degrees and it was the first time I felt semi comfortable while hiking in days. I didn’t even care about the rain.

The trail got a little rough later in the day. It’s been pretty gentle dirt and pine needles so far but then it switched to good old rocky terrain like some other trails. It was a good reminder that yeah maybe I’ve been dealing with some overgrown trails a little and I’m getting a lot of ticks, but it could always be worse.

I hiked more today than I expected, kind of like I’ve been doing a lot lately so I’ll probably finish this trail a little earlier than I expected with having to take 3 days to hide from the sun.

I’ve got a pretty tender rash on my back thighs right near the pant-line so I assume it’s from them rubbing soaking wet sweaty shorts all day. It hurts but I hope it goes away quickly after i finish this trail. I’m really looking forward to a dryer climate where I’m not walking in thick wet humidity every day.

Song of the day: life is beautiful-sixx a.m.