Vandeventer Shelter; Adjusting to the Heat

We left Black Bear this morning and took the shuttle back to where we were dropped off yesterday. We arrived there at about 10:30 a.m. and continued our northbound trek.

The sudden change to warm weather is getting us right now. Yesterday, it felt like we went to sleep in Alaska and woke up in Florida. We are working around it, but will be adjusting our pace and our hiking times accordingly. Starting today we are hiking during the early morning and late afternoon into the evening. As it gets warmer we will start hiking at night. For today, we stopped from about 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to rest in the shade; there was a nice breeze. The trees are beginning to take leaf, which will also help by providing more shade.

At about 8:30 p.m. we arrived at Vandeventer Shelter (mile marker 435.9) and set up camp for the night. Our total miles for the day were approximately 10.

Because the temperatures have changed more quickly than we are able to adapt, it will be slow progress to Damascus. We will only walk about 10 miles again tomorrow. There is a road in roughly 20 miles, and from that point forward it is 15 miles further to Damascus. My wife is going to pick us up at that road, and we will spend the weekend in Damascus. When she goes home, she will drop us off at the pick-up spot, and we will slackpack back to Damascus.

Over the weekend I plan to dump a lot of cold weather gear and switch to a hammock, which will be much better for my back. Forest will likely lose his pack and get a very simple, light and cool harness or smaller pack to wear instead.

The black flies and mosquitoes are pretty brutal up north until about the third week of July. That is when we will consider flip-flopping; that is, skipping to Maine and walking back south to where we left the Trail. If all goes according to plan, other than the one section in north Georgia that I'll need to go back and hike, we will be done at that point.

In other news, I just pulled a tick off of me. I am using garlic pills instead of chemicals as bug protection. The good news is that the tick was on my skin, and not embedded in me. So far, Forest's flea and tick treatment seems to be working well; no sign of anything on him.

And Today's Fun Fact (unless you are an ultralight Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker):
Did you know that 4.5 liters of water, which is pretty much the minimum of what I should be carrying for Forest and me, weighs 10 pounds? That's one-fourth my total pack weight. Crazy!