The Wind
4th May
23.4 miles
Bushcamp (310.5) to Bushcamp (333.9)
I woke to a calm morning. The predicted 35-50MPH winds didn’t hit me at 5am. So I slept in.
As soon as I crested the ridge the wind started. From nothing to 30-50MPH. The more exposed the ridge, the stronger the wind. In the less exposed areas the trees swayed to breaking point. At times trees or tree branches would fall around me.
I had little time to enjoy the views at places like Big Bald. The wind was strong and cold. At times I was almost blown off my feet. The cold had me burning extra calories and eating twice as much as I normally would. My metabolism was keeping me warm.
As the afternoon wore on I dropped into more protected valleys. The rain began. Now I was cold and wet. At this point I had a sharp pain in my left calf muscle. I tried stretching but that only made things worse. Maybe a massage might help, but it was too sore to massage. I limped into the next flat spot I could find and set up camp. I took some ibuprofen and went to bed hoping for less pain tomorrow.
Next : Day 20 – Into the town of Erwin for food
Brad, I’ve been reading your site for a year or two now, and look forward to each and every post. Get’s me through the works days/weeks to leave vicariously through another Aussie’s adventures. My next one will be to Antarctica at the end of the year.
Just a heads up – seems to be something wrong with your notifications. I’ve had the email for your post ‘Climbing Accident on Pico De Orizada’ from back in January sent to me over ten times in the past few days. (Maybe once or twice for every new AT post).
Thanks to you…my list of adventures has been extended some what…and it was already long!
Best of luck on the AT as you head north.
I apologise for all those posts, I’m not sure what the problem was so I deleted the post. It seems everyone was getting the email notification.
You are a total inspiration to all of us hikers.
Thanks for the kind words Bob. I’m just an ordinary guy with extraordinary dreams.