Miles: 766.1 | A brutal climb, lingering exhaustion, and incompatible shoes turn the day into an emotional grind. Achilles pain and mounting frustration force a reset, softened by unexpected kindness—Miles carrying my pack uphill and steady support through the breakdown. We push on anyway, fueled by podcasts, long breaks, and thoughts of an upcoming zero. The miles are hard-earned, but the day ends with reassurance, perspective, and a quiet reminder that I’m not doing this alone.
We got up late... again. Once again, I felt exhausted. We started out immediately with a big climb. It was hot out. We got less than half a mile up the hill and my achilles hurt really badly. The drop on these shoes were still bothering me. I thought I'd get used to it. I kicked myself for not being able to just wear any old shoe, like Miles could. I hated that my body was so picky. These were perfectly good, expensive shoes. Why couldn't my body just accept them?
It had been over a week and these shoes still hurt. I contacted my mom and had her order me a new pair of La Sportivas to Buena Vista, our next town. La Sportiva had given me a 40% pro coupon because of the problems I'd had with my last ones. It wasn't a replacement, but it was still a good deal and they seemed to be the only shoes that really worked for me.
My mom had apparently called Rudy, the East Coast customer service representative. She told him about my blog and how they were the only shoes that I liked and, even though they weren't made for thru-hiking, I still chose to wear them because I loved them so much. I wrote about them all over my blog, she told him. He was surprised and talked to his boss. He emailed my mom a few more coupons for my future shoe purchases. He essentially made it so that I could get every pair of shoes for the rest of my trip (that's 3-4 more pairs) at 40% off. Rudy, if you're reading this, you are my hero. I will wear La Sportivas forever.
Anyway, I took a break on the side of the trail. I started crying. Not really from the pain, mostly just from frustration. It was hot. I was tired. My feet hurt so badly. My shoes were pissing me off. I was homesick. I wanted a bed and a shower. I wanted to be home with my cats. I was frustrated that I couldn't hike the way I did the week we went to Woods Hole, my best and biggest week. I felt like I peaked and then suddenly crashed. Where had my hiker legs gone? Why wasn't I recovering?
Miles couldn't stand to see me so frustrated. He tried to talk me through my mental breakdown, but I just kept crying. Finally, he told me to stand up and take my pack off. I did. He bent over and picked it up. He put the straps over his shoulder and carried my pack on the front of his body half a mile up the hill. I walked quickly after him. My feet felt so much better without the offset weight of my pack. He was so sweet, but I knew he might hurt himself by carrying it.
I kept asking him to stop, telling him I could carry it. I held his poles for him. He didn't want to stop, he said, "Just let me do it. I've got it." I let him carry it. Finally, he got frustrated and he dropped it. We stopped on the side of the trail for another break. I was going to be slow this day, I knew. I told him to walk ahead. I think we both, maybe, needed some alone time, too.
I listened to podcasts all day as I walked over the winding hills. We stopped at Bryant Ridge shelter around 2pm and had a 2 hour lunch. Bryant Ridge was a newer shelter. It was beautiful. We talked to a guy called Slo' Goin' who was from New Hampshire! He told us that you could get to Glasgow in about 20 miles and Buena Vista was shortly after it. We desperately needed a zero. There was a shelter up over a large climb in about six miles, or we could go further so we would only be 15 miles outside of Glasgow.
Craig and Tania (the Mooners), that couple that Miles had met at Trimpi shelter who had hiked last year lived in Buena Vista. They had offered to take us in and help us get our resupply when we got to the area. Slo' Goin' told us that Glasgow was only 20 minutes outside of Buena Vista, not even. They'd probably be willing to pick us up by the footbridge to Glasgow. Besides, it was a Sunday. It would be easier for their work schedule. We texted them, but the service was shotty. They might even be out section hiking this weekend, we realized, they might not check their phone.
We decided to keep going, a big climb in font of us. It felt like we'd been climbing all day. I plugged back into my podcast and we hiked as hard as we could up the verdant hills.
We ended up stopping at Cornelius Creek Shelter for the night. It had been a tough day and neither of us wanted to keep going, but that meant tomorrow would be a 20 mile day, rather than a 15. At that point, I didn't even care. I started making dinner. Miles got us water and set up the tent. He also hung the bear line when he saw me struggling with it. He was so supportive.
During dinner, two other thru-hikers arrived: Chief Ranch Legs and Doc. They were pretty cool and we talked about how the bubbles had formed this year (large groups of hikers that all started around the same time and have a similar pace). Eventually, a weekender stopped by, too. He was in high school and thinking about thru-hiking. His parents had just bought him a tent for his birthday. He asked us lots of questions about our hikes.
He asked us how to learn more before he decided to do it. We told him to try YouTube, a source of good hiking and gear information that we all had relied on. I also suggested that he check Instagram. A lot of hikers, myself included, will post their whole thru-hike on their and often respond to direct messages. I asked a lot of hikers that I had followed last year about their hikes and for advice. When I was having a hard time in North Carolina, around the NOC, I had reached out to a few of them again and some reached out to me.
I created this whole virtual support network of former thru-hikers and it really helped me get through that time. We also told him: just get out. Get out and hike and camp as much as you can. Stop at shelters during the summer if there are any near where you live and ask hikers that are there about their experiences. The best way to learn about thru-hiking is by doing it and asking other people who have done it for advice.
After chatting for a while, the sun started to go down. We retreated to Miles' tent. We decided to get up early. 5:30am. 20 miles wasn't going to hike itself and if Craig and Tania could pick us up, we wanted to be there early enough that it would be convenient for them.
That night, just as we were about to fall asleep we heard a rustling in the woods downhill from the tent. We looked out and saw a headlamp. We heard more rustling. What was this person doing? We whispered to each other. There's a privy here, they wouldn't be digging a cathole in the dark when there's a privy, right? We started laughing at the absurdity of someone pooping in the dark woods just a couple hundred feet from our tent. We couldn't stop laughing. Then we heard the distinct sound of a rope zipping over a branch. A bear bag. Duh! The guy was hanging a bear bag, they probably just arrived to camp late. Miles and I couldn't stop laughing.
Eventually Miles fell asleep. I dozed in and out. But it was difficult for me to really sleep.