Well, we got a call last night from Kristin while we were outside and Kelly was riding Missile. Of course I put it on speaker so we could both listen! :) Poor Missile! He looked freaked out at the noisy breathing of Kristin talking while she was still walking!!
Apparently she still has NOT caught up with Fanny Pack and has renamed him Gingerbread Man ("Run, run as fast as you can; you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!") She did 27.5 miles yesterday and is just an hour or two behind him now. In all the log books he keeps writing that he misses his hiking partner, but I guess not enough to stop and realize she is behind him! :) I think he thought she was joining him further up the trail, not resuming where she'd left off.
It had been two days since we'd heard from her, but we knew that the reception was poor and hadn't really expected to hear from her until later this week. The day before, she had hiked Big Bald. Other hikers were discussing if they wanted to do that one, or hike the blue blazes instead. Apparently Big Bald is supposed to be bad. Kristin figured she'd do the white blazes anyhow and take it slower. Well, she said it wasn't bad, but the fog, driving rain, and freezing temperatures made her feel as though hypothermia wasn't too far out of the question. She said the view was supposed to be awesome, but she couldn't see a thing because of the fog. She had hiked with a guy named "Trekking Pol". There is no 'e' on Pol, because he is Polish, visiting our country just to hike the AT. :) Anyhow, she's enjoying his company, too.
There aren't very many females on the trail. I guess one of the guys with her told her as far as the girl to guy ratio, " The odds are good, but the 'goods' are odd!" hee, hee. I love it!! I'm pretty sure that it sums it up. She's not really looking for any 'goods' while on the trail, just an opportunity to have some comraderie!
While she was talking with us last night, she was on the descent heading into Erwin, TN. There is a hostel there and although she knew it to be already full, they were letting hikers camp in the backyard and still use the showers, mail drop, kitchen, etc. She sounded so excited to see a town. She said it actually looked quite large.
She's done 105 miles since I'd dropped her off on Saturday. She had had (3) 20+ mile days in a row....the last one being almost 30! She is very thirsty even though she's drinking and her thigh is beginning to constantly aggrevate her. Hope she'll be better with some electrolytes and rest! She was taking an easier day today, she thinks.
She called this morning, but we weren't able to talk for long. She's hoping to call tonight.
Guess that's it for now. I'm mailing off boxes ahead of schedule because she's cranking out the miles!!
~Pat
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