Mountains Under Foot

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 27: June 5, 2009
Travel:
From: Vandeventer Shelter, TN
To: Abingdon Gap Shelter, TN
Beginning: 9:30am
Ending: 6:45pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Travel – 22.7
b) other
c) AT Mile Marker – 452.8 cumulative
Weather:
AM: Woke up to rain and walked in a cloud all day.
PM: It stopped raining but we were still walking in a cloud. Visibility was 40-50 feet the whole day. Temperature dropped after dinner so that we could see our breath.
People: Hiked with Tyben right behind us the whole day. Ended up in the shelter with: Sal, Disco Stu, and Patch too.
Animals: Deer and fawn on the trail that Tyben got some video of.
Money: $0, $578
Notes of the day:
AM: Hiked in the cold rain until we hit a water source because we didn’t want to hike the .3 miles down from the shelter. Tyben did it last night and said it was really bad trying to get down there. Continued on to Iron Mountain shelter where we had lunch. Tyben had gotten ahead of us while we were getting water.

PM: Walked in a cloud the whole day. The wet grass lining the trail soaked our boots. We stayed wet the entire day. Good thing when we got to the shelter it was empty. A lot of people came in to make it a full house and the temperature dropped so much I’m going to crawl in my sleeping bag. Tomorrow we arrive in Damascus, VA to a much needed ‘zero’ day!

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 26: June 4, 2009
Travel:
From: Kincora Hostel, Dennis Cove Road, TN
To: Vandeventer Shelter, TN
Beginning: 8:45am
Ending: 5:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 17.5
b) other – .2 from Kincora
c) AT Mile Marker – 430.1 cumulative
Weather:
AM: Cloudy and warm. The sky looks threatening.
PM: Got to Shook Branch Recreation area and decided to stop for lunch and it started to rain on us. Humidity shot through the roof and it sprinkled off and on for a bit. Poured for awhile after 8pm, glad I’m in a shelter.
People: Poli-Poli (Swahili for slowly-slowly) and Plowboy cooked us breakfast. Met Disco Stu. Route 66, Sal and Tyben.
Animals: Just cats from the hostel and a turtle who wanted us off his trail.
Money: $0, $578 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: Woken up to a magnificent breakfast being made of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Had three plates of food, a banana and a glass of milk. I was stuffed and super satisfied. We left shortly thereafter and hiked down to Laurel Falls which was magnificent and if it hadn’t had been 9am in the morning we would have jumped in for a swim. The trail followed the river for a mile or two before turning up towards Pond Flats. The bottom was gradual and easy up to a false peak. Then it became really steep and the mountain just seemed to grow. When we got to the top we took a break and made some phone calls. Steve didn’t answer his phone The rest was easy down to Watauga Lake.

PM: We ended up at the beach front of the lake where people were picnicking and swimming. We decided to make use of the picnic table to have lunch. About 20 minutes after we sat down Tyben came up behind us and sat down too. He had spent the night in Laurel Fork Shelter with a big rat and a spider the size of a fist (which ultimately met its demise by a trail register) and had gotten a really late start. So we finished our lunch just as the rain came pouring down. Sat there for a little while until it stopped and then continued down the trail with Tyben following close behind. Took some pictures at the dam but spent little time there. The trail out of the dam had seen some improvements where the trail switchbacked instead of going straight over the mountain. Came into Vandeventer late enough where we did not want to make the push to Iron Mountain. Good thing too because it started to rain pretty hard and we still would have been on the trail.

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 25: June 3, 2009
Travel:
From: Mountaineer Shelter, TN
To: Kincora Hostel, Dennis Cove Road, TN
Beginning: 8:30am
Ending: 4:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 15.6
b) other -
c) AT Mile Marker – 412.6 cumulative
Weather:
AM: Sunny and nice but some dark clouds rolled in.
PM: Loud thunder but light rain showers after lunch. Tapered off after 4pm and the sun came back out.
People: Tyben and Patch stopped at the shelter we stopped at for lunch. Ran into Sal who was staying at Kincora.
Animals: Wild turkey flew across our path coming dow to Dennis Cove Road.
Money: $4 donation for stay, $572 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: The “flat” profile of the trail for this morning was deceptively hard. It was either sharp up or sharp down for 10 miles which wore me out. But we knocked that part of trail out before noon so it felt good to be far along.

PM: Lunch was had and then Tyben and shortly thereafter Patch joined us for some conversation. It was then that the thunder started rumbling and soon after some showers. Showers had stopped by the time we got to Dennis Cove Road but the sky was still rumbling. Some people at the road had just come off the trail southbound and offered us a ride up to Kincora (said it was a pretty cool place) so we decided to check it out. As soon as we got there the dinner crowd was leaving for town and there was Sal who had somehow managed to stealthy pass us again. They asked us if we wanted them to bring back some town food for us because the car was full. We somehow ended up ordering a large pepperoni pizza, so now we are waiting on them to return. Don’t know if we will stay the night or hike the 2 miles to the next shelter. Pizza got here and we ate it up. Some other hikers brought back supplies for burgers and shared; they also said they were making eggs, bacon, and pancakes in the morning for everyone. So we decided to stay (of course!). We will have to make up miles tomorrow. Spoon made some wicked chocolate milk with powdered milk and chocolate powder. I sat around and read about the PCT and then read out Trival Pursuit questions. Late night but comfy bed.

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 24: June 2, 2009
Travel:
From: Overmountain Shelter, TN
To: Mountaineer Shelter, TN
Beginning: 8:45am
Ending: 6:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 18
b) other – about 1 mile down the wrong trail.
c) AT Mile Marker – 397.0 cumulative
Weather:
AM: Sunny and warm this morning and clear blue sky up to Hump Mountain.
PM: Dark clouds rolled in and there was thunder. Sprinkled just enough to push us faster to the shelter and not throw the pack cover on.
People: Patch and Tyben (Brad, daughter Tyla and son Ben), Herb.
Animals:
Money: $10 bucks for lunch, $20 for resupply. $568 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: First thing was to go up little hump and then to Hump mountain. Beautiful balds and a 360 degree view at the top. We took some pictures and a video blog and soaked in the view for quite some time. Afterwards it was all downhill from there to U.S. 19E and we followed Brad down the trail because his truck was at the hostel on 19E. We hit a campsite after passing a farm and kept going straight where the trail made a turn. We hiked down the entire thing to a private driveway and a barking dog and knew that we screwed up. So back up we went. Only lost us 30 minutes but since Brad was in front of us we were worried we would miss our ride. Luckily we made up enough time so that he wasn’t waiting more than 5 minutes with the truck. So we hopped in and cruised into town for lunch after he took a shower at the hostel.

PM: Stopped at Bob’s Dairyland and ate a Big Boss burger which was a magical combination of two beef patties, one patty with cheddar and one with Swiss, loads of bacon, a pile of ham, lettuce, tomato and onion. The greatest burger I’ve had so far. When we got back to the hostel, Herb was just getting there. Tyben offered to let him take his truck (Avalanche) into town for food/resupply granted he take us back to the trail head and leave the truck back a the hostel. A really generous offer that Herb graciously accepted. Thankfully the next 8 miles to the shelter was pretty easy, flattish trail. Reluctantly ate dinner because we were still feeling lunch, this is the fullest we’ve been on the trail I think. Brad was explaining his trail name and I said “Oh, your daughter’s name is the female form of Tyler”. His response was: “You are the smartest person I’ve ever met”
Yes, I am that good…

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 23: June 1, 2009
Travel:
From: Cherry Gap Shelter, TN
To: Overmountain Shelter, TN
Beginning: 8:45am
Ending: 7:45pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 22.1
b) other
c) AT Mile Marker – 379.0 cumulative
Weather:
AM: Perfect weather today. Clear blue sky for most of the day.
PM: Ditto
People: Finally met Herb who we’ve read about in the registers. Passed Patch a couple times. Met Patches (a girl). Also, a local news crew.
Animals: Big garter snake on a switchback.
Money: $0, $538
Notes of the day:
AM: Said goodbye to Matt and his mom. The trail was fairly easy rolling up and down. Stopped for lunch at Clyde Smith shelter and met Patches the girl and the guy she’s hiking with. They have been on the trail since mid April and made many multi-zero-day stops along the way.

PM: Little Rock Knob was a real slap in the face because you go up a thousand feet then right back down a thousand only to have to tackle Roan Mountain. Roan was a beast, 3 miles up, took a little less than an hour and a half. At the top there was a news crew and some folds from Appalachian.org and the AT regional director. They interviewed Spoon and were chatting when I got to the top. Jay ( a conservationist) took us down to the parking lot and handed us a diet Coke, Sun Drop, peanut M&Ms, and buffalo jerky. We had a feast at the picnic tables, it was the first time we have had a soda in years, but when someone hands you a cold drink out here, you don’t refuse. Headed over to Carver’s Gap and got some water from a spring there and headed up the balds. Gentle up to the top of the balds then all down hill to the shelter. Overmountain Shelter was voted best view on the trail from a shelter. Hope I catch the sunrise!

From Hazard’s notes:
Day 22: May 31, 2009
Travel:
From: Chestoa Bridge, Uncle Johnny’s Hostel, Erwin, TN
To: Cherry Gap Shelter, TN
Beginning: 9:45am
Ending: 5:30pm
Number of miles hiked:
a) Trail – 17
b) other
c) AT Mile Marker – 356.9 cumulative
Weather:
AM: Cloudy and warm. Dark clouds threatened but did not produce any rain.
PM: Sunny and nice. Great to have a beautiful day again!
People: Ran into Matt again, this time his mom was with him. She came from Indiana to hike for the week with him.
Animals: Snakes and Trains (heard them)
Money: $18 for bunk and Gatorade, $538 cumulative.
Notes of the day:
AM: Finally got to sleep after midnight. The guys in the bunkhouse were watching (the movie) ’se7en’ while I was sending emails from bed. We planned to make it an early morning but failed to capitalize on that. Packed are things and hobbled out to the picnic area to eat breakfast. Some guy from the bunkhouse had tossed me an orange and it tasted magical. The hiker box right outside the bunkhouse had a bag of carrots as well so I grabbed those to nibble on with my pop-tarts. After the random assortment of food plus a Snickers I was feeling pretty good about hiking. I settled my bill for the stay and we headed out. First thing we did was cross the Nolichucky river and then head up the mountain. Shortly after starting Spoon was expressing some intense pain in his pinky toe. It seems the blister had not healed and was in fact worse. We stopped to get some gauze and medical tape around it and that seemed to take the edge off enough. After some time on the trail and some good conversations to keep his mind off of it, he was feeling a lot better.

PM: The whole day seemed to take us up and up. Climbing up to Beauty Spot we went through an area that had been ravaged by a forest fire. It was oddly beautiful. Once on top of Beauty Spot I gave my dad a call about meeting us in Damascus. He said he could be there on Sunday morning and Will would be taking the SAT on Saturday and then studying for exams. Being out here I had forgotten that school would be letting out for the summer soon. So we moved on and tackled Unaka Mountain which had a really pretty Hemlock forest on top before descending into camp. We cooked up some food quickly so we could enjoy a couple of hours of sunlight before bed for the first time in forever. We made a roaring fire and lounged around sketching designs and storyboards. Feels good to relax after a long day of hiking. Welcome back, sun!
Main concern if the day:
Spoon’s toe has to be taken care of or things could go from bad to worse fast.

Side Note: Spoon and I will be in Damascus,VA; a great hiker town this Saturday evening June 6th and taking our second ‘zero’ day on Sunday. If anyone would like to come up and see us this will probably be your best opportunity. Drop me a line if you want to come see us!