Bubbles Day 14 (Sunday, April 10th) Day 1 of the Roller Coaster!!

We had about seven miles to go through the first section of the roller coaster today.  The roller coaster is 13 miles total and has a lot of steep inclines and declines.  You read a lot about it on the Internet and I was apprehensive and worried before I started.  It was a challenge but it is definitely a challenge that I would do again!  

It is so beautiful this time of the year and the weather was perfect.  When I was up at a higher elevation there were no leaves on the trees and everything was brown.  As I walked down into the little valleys it was like the land came alive and everything was a vibrant GREEN (my favorite) color.  The streams rushed past and the vegetation was lush.  It was so beautiful that I forgot about the pain in my feet (even though they were super steep declines).  It also made me excited about the challenge of getting to the next stream.

We took a few rests throughout the day and didn't push ourselves.  The terrain is difficult and we were also taking in all the beauty of the land. I want to remember this moment forever!  I wish I would've taken more pictures but I think I was so captivated by everything that grabbing my phone and snapping was the last thing on my mind!

We are staying at Sam Moore shelter tonight.  When we got to the shelter I was shocked that we had gotten there so quickly.  We had a lot of time to hang around and enjoy ourselves.  We made a nice fire, per usual.  We had a few potatoes and made potato pouches over the fire. THEY WERE SO GOOD. We don't have many opportunities to eat fresh food on the trail so this was a real treat.

 A nice guy named the Darkest Hour, who is section hiking large parts of the trail (over 200 miles), came to camp.  He set up his tent relatively close to the shelter.  

That night it poured cats and dogs.  It stinks when we have to get out of our sleeping bags to pee in the middle of the night when it's raining and freezing.

I am pretty pumped to get up tomorrow and hike through the other half of the roller coaster!

The Sprout is filtering water

Doesn't look like much but man did it taste good!

Smudgy Cheeks being a weirdo playing with rocks

Before I go to bed tonight I also want to give a special shoutout to my amazing parents.  They've been married for 40 years today!

Happy Anniversary note in the log book at Sam Moore Shelter!