{"id":3418,"date":"2024-03-20T00:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T00:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/20\/day-14-100-miles\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T23:28:03","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T23:28:03","slug":"day-14-100-miles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/20\/day-14-100-miles\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 14: 100 Miles!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"
Starting Point: Carter Gap Shelter (93.7)<\/div>\n
Ending Point: Long Branch Shelter (102.4)<\/div>\n
Total Miles: 8.8 trail miles.  1.2 bonus miles.<\/div>\n
Steps: 24,133<\/div>\n
Achievements: ***100 Miles***, Albert Mountain <\/b><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The night was rough.  I’ve tested my kit down to 20 degrees.  Last night was 18 degrees with 40 mph gusts.  That makes the wind-chill about -4 degrees.  I was smart enough to find a spot with a large log to block some of the wind.  I also set it up low.  I wore every single piece of clothing.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The good news was I was quite comfortable all night long.  It doesn’t mean I slept well, and when I woke up everything was covered in a light dusting of snow from my breath. My dirty water bag was frozen so I hiked with just half a liter.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I tried chewing on a Clif bar, but they were quite frozen.  I sucked on them until they were soft. My tent stakes were frozen into the ground.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Blaze and the Sweeper got up early and hiked on.  We were going either 9 or 12 miles today depending upon how hard Albert Mountain kicked our collective butts.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
All that cold sucked the life out of my legs.  Although it was rather flat, I couldn’t get moving.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Feeling merciful, the sun came out and I could enjoy some views.<\/div>\n
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\n
\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

I stopped to refill my water bottle, I was out, but couldn’t filter without a dirty water bag, so I found a natural spring and crossed my fingers.  It’s a spring, I know it’s fresh, but I don’t like to take unnecessary chances.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I met up with Zack, who I camped near last night.  He was coming back in the opposite direction.  He seemed to have lost the trail.  I went with him and I lost the trail as well.  My GPS app said that it was within the error window and it looked like trail, but it was filled with blow downs.  It took a bit of overland back-and-forth, but we realized the trail took a hard left turn and we missed it.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Now exhausted after some bonus mileage, I hiked a bit and sat down.  I carbed up, drank some water, and gathered myself.  Albert Mountain was coming up, and it was a beast.  I contemplated taking the bad weather route.  The trail was in my head and winning.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Eventually, I reached the crossroad.  Do I suck it up and make the big climb?  The tower was a very long way up.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

I decided that I’ve certainly done much worse.  I wasn’t fast climbing up there, but I wasn’t slow either.  I reached the traditional 100 mile mark on the trail.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n <\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

With that, the spring was back in my step.  I put in some music and hiked on.  It turns out, I was only 30 minutes behind Blaze and the Sweeper.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Tomorrow, we’ll hike 7.3 and pick up the shuttle into Franklin, NC.  We’ll zero there.  After six days in the field, even I’m offended with my smell.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I told the boys that we must stop at a Walmart.  I need some athletic shorts.  Otherwise, with the loss of my laundry shorts, I have nothing to wear and will be lying in a towel naked.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
We’ll also learn Blaze’s fate, unfortunately.  I’ve written about the four Ms of failing a thru-hike — Medical, Money, Mental, and wasn’t Meant to be.  In his case, his wife is struggling with him gone, and so he may pull off in Franklin.  Maybe I’ll add a fifth, the Matriarch.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Starting Point: Carter Gap Shelter (93.7) Ending Point: Long Branch Shelter (102.4) Total Miles: 8.8 trail miles.  1.2 bonus miles. Steps: 24,133 Achievements: ***100 Miles***, Albert Mountain  The night was rough.  I’ve tested my kit down to 20 degrees.  Last night was 18 degrees with 40 mph gusts.  That makes the wind-chill about -4 degrees.  … Continue reading Day 14: 100 Miles!!!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3418","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\/3418","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=3418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3423,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3418\/revisions\/3423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jphikes.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}