Day of ouch

   There was something in the woods last night. I'm not sure what but it was at least the size of a coyote or deer. It could have been a bear, I'm not sure. My food was safely up in the tree. It all worked great. It was my second night in the tent and although it didn't rain i had heavy condensation in my tent. It also coated the outside of my quilt which is down. You do not want to get your down gear wet.

   I got going for the day at 7am. I found myself almost in tears with my toe pain. Today took me over Blue Mountain. I only went about 5 miles. The steep downhill was absolutely brutal.

   At the bottom of the mountain trail magic was happening! I've been craving sandwiches and they had sandwiches! I also had cheese, sunny D, a banana, and chocolate! I never made it to the table though. I stubbed my bad toe so bad right before the set up. I ended up sitting in a chair and they just pampered me! I got ice for my toe, they gave me something to elevate my leg with and gave me all this food, it was fantastic! I rested for awhile and ended up getting a ride into town with 2 others by this wonderful couple who offered to drive us. It was suggested that my toe could be infected so I parted ways with Mike, then they dropped me off at the doctors office but they were closed for lunch. Jesse, who was in the car, and I decided to split a hotel in town together. I had been hiking with him on and off that morning. His knees were having a hard time and he wanted to take a day to rest. The other girl in the car wanted to be dropped off further down the trail. We ended up being dropped off at a motel down the street then brought back to the doctors office.

   I've never stayed in a hotel or motel or anything before where the staff insisted upon giving a tour of the place before letting us have the keys. This was a pretty crappy place too. Some windows were only held together by tape. It's pretty crummy and dirty but at least there's a fridge and microwave. We were given a room upstairs with a king bed and a rollaway bed with a blanket on it.

   We were then driven back to the doctors office who then told me to go to the hospital because their schedule was full. It was quite a hassle at the hospital but in the end I was told that I'll be keeping my big toe nail and that my toe isn't infected. Aparently nails can bend quite alot when under pressure. It's pretty grotesque the way the nail is bent at this point because of the swelling. I was given some anti-inflammatories and told to keep off the trail until it stops hurting but even if i do it might just start all over again.

   Jesse and I ran into Ben and Brent at the motel. We all did some resupply at the Ingles store across the street and went to a buffet a bit down the street and hung out all evening.

   I've been icing my toe and at some point I soaked my foot in epson salt that I found in the motels hiker box. The swelling still looks horible. The bathtub looks so gross I hope i don't get an infection just from that! We also found the random trash in the drawers, the bathroom light switch won't turn off and it's partly smashed, the bathroom light is a small string, the reading light above me doesn't have a lightbulb, some of the tiles are smashed, the back windows open to a shed, the smoke alarm is missing, the peep hole in the door is missing and has paper in it, there's insulation coming out of the outlet, ect. This place just doesn't get cleaned. Yuck.

Tonight I'm staying in Hiawassee which is mile 52.6 with 2137.2 left to go.