Day 4 Monday November 22, 2021 11.2 miles
We got up early to set out. It was Lauren's last day of this trip. At this point Lauren's feet were wrecked, all bloody and blistered! She had a blister over where a blister had already popped. She had a blister on the side of her foot the size of a quarter. One heel was a bloody mess. Her knee was pretty messed up too, I gave her all but 1 KT strip.
I grabbed my socks to put on and they were just as wet as the night before only now they're cold! I put them on last and then I had numb toes which helped when my water bottle fell out of my pack and landed on my pinkie toe.
The terrain was awful from the get-go. There were lots of rocks. Rocks everywhere! And if there wasn't loose rock then there were vines with thorns on them grabbing your shirt or your pants. The scenery reminded me of a horror movie where vines were wrapping around your legs and arms trying to trap you! We stopped at a camp site for a break at mile 4. We decided that we were going to stop every four miles. We were both in pain, my feet and left knee were hurting at this point. By mile eight we sat on rocks for lunch. There were no camp sites, there were no good areas to stop but darn it we were exhausted, and we needed food. I really didn't want to get up and keep hiking, but we had to. Lauren wished multiple times that she could crawl but not on this terrain. We were keeping an eye out for a waterfall, we heard that we didn't have far to go after that. We finally got to it but there was no water falling. There was a little bit of moisture in one little spot. Luckily, we didn't need water. Even without water it was pretty. Guess who was hitching a ride on my pack?! My spirit animal, the stick bug! Those things are so cute, but I still refuse to touch them. I hope Lauren is always around when they’re around.
We kept trekking. We got to an area with water. Lauren wanted to put her foot in the water to see if it felt good. She got close to the water and lost her footing! She leaned back and forth and righted herself, it was the most amazing balancing act I’ve ever seen! I started running towards her when she started to wobble, and I'm glad she righted herself cause we both would have been drenched!
While walking I knew that my two friends were not going to finish this hike with me. I played different outcomes in my head. I could try and reach out to the older gentleman to see if he wanted to do it however there was no cell service. I could have them walk with me to the shelter, ~one mile and then I would hike the next eleven miles and they could drive to the next trailhead and walk to ~five miles to the shelter. That was my best bet, but I didn't want to walk the eleven miles by myself. I know eventually I will be comfortable with it but not during the winter when there's limited daylight.
When we got to the end of the trail I hobbled towards Laurens’s car. I was so happy to have a comfortable seat to sit on and get off my feet. It was amazing! We decided that we would go into town to get a pizza and surprise our friends with it. I left a note for them letting them know we would be back.
When we returned, Texas and Angie were finishing. They said they couldn't do any more. They said they would support me if I wanted to continue but they were done. I told them I was done too. Eleven miles over that terrain and racing the sunlight was too much. Instead of fifty-five miles in six days we completed thirty-eight in four short days.
We picked up my Jeep and drove back to Queen Wilhelmina State Park to see if they had a room available. They didn't have a room, but they did have a site. We chilled in the Lodge, sitting by the fire, and just relaxing. There were two girls asking me about our trip. They said their mom would be impressed. A bit later their dad came down and started talking to me. He and his family hike/camp and they live near where I grew up! He eventually asked if we wanted to use their trailer for the night. I said yes! I asked Texas and Angie if they wanted to use it and of course they said yes too! His wife came down and talked to us. We invited her to a few FB groups, and I really do hope one day she joins us on a hike or backpacking trip!
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