Tuesday, 14 August

Tuesday, 14 August, Day 35, 17.5 miles, Lookout Cabin, by Crocadilly - I enjoyed a last delectable shower. Although I knew that soon enough I would have access to another one! What a marvelous thought! Showers are like buses - you don’t see one for ages and then several turn up within days! I had to laugh at the state of my body. I thought I was meant to start looking buff by now what with all the walking and fresh air! All the other women I have passed hiking, seem to be raven haired or classic looking blonde stunners with beautiful tanned legs up to their armpits, not a scratch or bug bite on them. These are the sort of women who are flawless and have impeccable finger nails and even if there was mud under them would still look perfect! A stunning south African southbounder who it has to be said chain smoked when I saw her in particular sticks out … every platinum blonde hair on her head was perfectly groomed and in place, she was barely breaking a sweat and her perfect legs stretched in to infinity. Contrastingly my hair has taken on a life of its own and resembles that of Queen Guitarist Brian May! My legs are road map of various insect bites, scratches and scars and the sweat drips off me whilst I hike. The barely there tan is covered by a layer of dirt that is so engrained that despite vain attempts to exfoliate will stubbornly not be removed! My toenails have taken on various hues of death from a weird purple/red to black (I think only three have a shot of being alive at the end of the trip) and despite washing and purelling my hands continuously the dirt is ingrained in my stubby finger nails!!! I do have the beginnings of some small calf muscles and biceps which I am quite pleased about and I am in truth getting a good hiker tan (yes I slather myself in all sorts of beauty products every morning and evening including lashings of sun block so am getting quite a healthy glow going!!) It makes me laugh - I feel in the best shape of my life yet my diet is the worst it has ever been including whilst at university and I certainly do not look my best!! J

I struggled a bit with this mornings' hike. The day had started off so well too - we were the first down to breakfast and I had another good feast of waffles. We were joined by Thirty Pack and Apollo and enjoyed some good banter.  I was looking forward to another good day but some days just go like that.  Papa Wolf had his turn a couple of days ago and I guess this morning was my turn. We were hiking to meet up with Apollo and Thirty Pack and Tailbone at Thundering Falls. I felt like every step was a struggle but I was determined not to give up. I knew some days I would struggle and part of the reason I am out here is to get over my demons and feel better in myself. The trip at the moment feels very up and down but I guess that is what an adventure is all about - it is about pushing yourself and it would not be an adventure or the hard undertaking that something like this is if it were all easy and straightforward. So I pushed on through my negative thoughts. There were some tough up hills today that seemed to kick my butt but I just tackled them one step at a time and felt happiness and the wonderful sense of achievement on getting through them. We then hit Thundering Falls. A stunning set of waterfalls in a serene wooded area. It was breathtaking and I took some time out by myself to meditate by them - and it had the desired effect! I could have spent the whole day there it was so pretty and relaxing. We spent a good hour at the falls just enjoying watching the water cascading down the rocks, chatting and taking in the setting. Eventually we left taking another path that had been shut due to the hurricane last year. The path had formerly been a lovely boardwalk that took you through a wetland area…the boardwalk was still there just on its side in places which we managed to navigate. The wetland flowers, rushes and reeds were beautiful and I took some time to take some pictures. I love how one minute you are on top of a mountain, the next in a woodland, and then in a field and before you know it in a gorgeous wetland area like this! My favorite areas at the moment are the latter and also fields, especially those in MA as they really reminded me of the rolling Chiltern Hills and fields of home in the UK. In the afternoon, after leaving Tailbone at the car which was parked just beyond the boardwalk we continued forward. The afternoon hike which we did with Rampage, Weezy and Apollo took us up some more hills towards a geocache and a private cabin with stunning views over the mountains in the distance. On the way we gorged on wild blackberries - picking wild berries is a great past time on the trail. The best are to be found in open areas under electricity pylons which is where we found these. Picking and eating wild berries does slow down your progress! Known as the lookout our destination for the evening was a place everyone was looking forward to, having heard of the fabulous sunsets and sunrises it affords. The cabin was an old ramshackle building set on top of a hill that we all set up camp in…there was quite a lot of us in total and it was fun to be all under one roof! We had Rampage, Mango, Tailbone, Weezy, Apollo, Thirtypack, John Wayne, Hobo Joe and Ragweed. Quite the gathering! There was a ladder to a look out on the roof and the views were stunning. The sun was setting and bathed the distant hills and mountains in pinks and purples and greys. The woodland surrounding us was growing a dark green and it all felt very serene! Considering how hard I had found this morning, I now felt like I had had a great day!