{"id":3392,"date":"2024-04-21T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/21\/day-46-gaining-speed\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T23:27:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T23:27:47","slug":"day-46-gaining-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/21\/day-46-gaining-speed\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 46: Gaining Speed"},"content":{"rendered":"
Starting Point: Mountains Harbor Hostel (395.6)<\/div>\n
Ending Point: Upper Laurel Fork (408.3)<\/div>\n
Total miles: 12.7 trail miles.  .6 Double Bonus<\/div>\n
Steps: 32,828<\/div>\n
Injuries: Intercostal Strain<\/div>\n
Achievements: *** 400 Miles ****<\/b>, Jones Falls, Mountaineer Falls, Best Breakfast on the AT<\/div>\n
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Two JP’s celebrate 400 on the AT.<\/i><\/div>\n

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The Mountain Harbor Hostel has what it calls the best breakfast on the AT.  I have to agree with that.  Tomato Pie, French Toast, fresh biscuits and sausage gravy, herb breakfast potatoes, and more!<\/div>\n
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Taking in about 2000 calories before I even started hiking was wonderful!<\/div>\n
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The first phase of the day was an 800 foot steep climb.  Due to all the rain, the mud was like toothpaste.  I was full of energy and charged up the hill.  My last couple of big climbs have been very strong.  My hiker legs are coming!<\/div>\n
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I was unstoppable.  I charged up the hill.  My head was down.  My glasses were fogged.  I was going to get to the top, even if the trail unexpectedly turned right without me noticing.  I reached the top and I couldn’t figure out where the trail went.<\/div>\n
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Horrified, I pulled out my phone and opened FarOut.  I was off trail, by a lot.  I turned around and did the thru-hiker’s walk of shame back to the trail.<\/div>\n
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This created a new problem for me.  I was in the lead.  Was I still?  Everyone else was dragging with full bellies.<\/div>\n
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The goal was to group up at a road at mile 399.2.  That way we could take a group picture at mile 400.<\/div>\n
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When I got to that point, no one was there, so I assumed I was still in the lead.  I waited.  A hiker by the name of JP (Greybeard) came up next.  I asked if he passed my crew.  He said no.  So, I guess it took longer than I thought to backtrack.<\/div>\n
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So, JP and I walked to the 400 mile marker and we shared a selfie.<\/div>\n
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The next view was Jones Falls.  For this one, JP and Ketchup joined me.<\/div>\n
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Needless to say, my crew doesn’t follow simple instructions.  Talk to the hand Sweeper, Kea, and Captain Blogger.  I’ll make new friends on trail.<\/div>\n
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Just kidding.<\/div>\n
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I eventually reached up with them at the shelter.  I got a hug. I would have preferred a group selfie, but whatever.<\/div>\n
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Despite a late start, we reached our destination by 3 p.m.  It is a beautiful campsite next to a flowing river.<\/div>\n
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I needed to repair my pack.  A strut wore through.  I have some strong nylon thread.  It is the first repair I ever had to make.  She’s an old pack with just a few thousand miles on her.  After the AT, I’ll retire her.<\/div>\n
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Over dinner we discussed some interesting options.  We have a chance to Aqua Blaze.  We can kayak 10 miles which will be 21 trail miles.  I’m in favor of a change of pace.  We’ll see how it goes.<\/div>\n
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My back was not an issue today, but the trail was soft.  I believe it is healing and not getting worse.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Starting Point: Mountains Harbor Hostel (395.6) Ending Point: Upper Laurel Fork (408.3) Total miles: 12.7 trail miles.  .6 Double Bonus Steps: 32,828 Injuries: Intercostal Strain Achievements: *** 400 Miles ****, Jones Falls, Mountaineer Falls, Best Breakfast on the AT Two JP’s celebrate 400 on the AT. The Mountain Harbor Hostel has what it calls the … Continue reading Day 46: Gaining Speed<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-at2024"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3392"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3395,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3392\/revisions\/3395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}