Day 3 - Sat 3rd April, 2010 - Hawke Mt Shelter to Gooch Gap - 9 miles

It takes a while to get moving this morning. The sore muscles are starting to be a factor. We have not 'trained' for the Appalachian Trail, much to the amazement of people who say 'you must be very fit'. Our reply ' no - we get fit as we go - the first week of a long distance walk is the worst'. We are now experiencing 'the worst'. Aching muscles in calves and thighs, and we walk slowly today.

Hiker 'Jeremy from Lousiana' says farewell - as he is not walking today - he has decided to observe the Sabbath and rest today. Later we hear along the AT grapevine that he has quit and gone home because of the 'crowds of hikers'. He had seen more hikers in 3 days than he saw in a year at his home in Louisana. Digby and I raise our eyebrows and start hiking.

By the time we leave Hawke Mt Shelter, the majority of hikers (around 40) have already left. Chris the Australian, passes us on the track, and we don't see him again today.

There is quite a bit of mountain climbing and descending and the descents are painful. Digby walks with a lurching gait, and I wonder how he will survive for another 2100 miles.

We stop for lunch at the Devils Kitchen - a fast flowing creek - which provides a welcome respite to the unusual heat we have experienced since we started - 30 C days. Our feet are burning and removing our shoes and socks and soaking our feet improves them considerably. Three 'lone wolves' join us for lunch. The conversation is monosyllabic.

That night we camp alone at Gooch Gap. It is a welcome relief to be alone after 2 nights with 40 other campers. I sit down on a log to write my journal and put my glasses on the ground. I finish writing my journal and stand up and crunch my glasses under my foot. Oh Shit! For the nex 100 days I have to wear prescription sunglasses on the trail to see anything. Naively I think I will be able to buy a new pair of glasses at the next town, but in the end I email our farm managers at home and ask them to visit my optometrist and post me a new pair.

The landscape is completely barren - to an Australian from the tropics it looks like a bushfire has passed through, but what we are experiencing is 'winter' - a season that we don't have at Cape Trib. A close inspection of the trees shows that small tiny buds are forming ready to burst into life.