Date: 2017-07-02
From: McQueen Gap Road

To: Shady Valley (TN 91)
Miles today: 10.2

We woke up around 6:30; I was pretty cold. I had a difficult time falling asleep. There were loud raindrops on the tarp and some squeaky creature making noise. Also, at one point it sounded like a salamander tried to crawl up our tent, but slid off. I was also too hot even though I was only wearing a t-shirt and underpants, so that was annoying. I decided to use my summer (lighter) sleeping bag. At some point I started to get cold, but I didn't want to wake Steven up by getting out my other bag. I put on my sweatshirt and slept a little better, but my legs were cold. When I woke up, my poncho was in a completely different place than where I had left it, so maybe something was trying to drag it out from under the tent door! We took down the tent and packed up pretty quickly, but when we got to our cars there was a bit of organizing to do. That took a while. Once it was all sorted, we drove to McQueen Gap Rd where we left my car. Then we drove to Cross Mountain Rd where we left Steven's car. It was very misty and a little drizzly. I put my sweatshirt on because I was cold. We hiked through a field of cows and then into the woods. We stopped at the Double Springs Shelter after about an hour and a half where I had some Doritos. As we were walking on, my phone made a noise! I had turned it off, so that was odd. I don't know when or how it turned back on. I took a picture and posted it to our facebook group (since I had service), then texted my mom and Maili, and waited for Steven, who I should call "Count." I saw him go onto a side trail just before I posted the picture. Apparently, when I was looking down at my phone, he decided to NOT go that way and he went ahead on the trail! I called his name up the side trail, but got no response. So, I started to slowly walk down the real trail knowing that he'd catch up eventually. Except he was already on the trail, walking back toward me! HA! I'm very glad that we started our hike with a 10 mile day, because I was pretty tired by the end. We had a decadent lunch - summer sausage, mustard, cheese & avocado sandwiches at Low Gap with Islander and his daughters, Sunshine and Cliffhanger. They seemed like nice folks. After lunch hiking seemed harder. Also my left knee was feeling funny on the uphills. It never hurt, so that's good. We stopped at the very cute McQueen Knob Shetler. It is no longer maintained, but it is in decent condition. Our car was 0.4 miles from there. We got to the car around 2:30! That gave us time to find a place to camp. The first place we tried didn't allow tents because someone had been feeding bears and they (bears) ended up going into someones tent! The caretaker recommended we try Dennis Cove Campground. It took us 30 minutes to drive there from where we will park the car tomorrow. Luckily there was an available site, and that is where we are: at our concrete picnic table, site # 12. We had Ramen Noodles with spinach and broccoli for supper plus cucumber from Tiina's garden. Yum! We had mint oreos for dessert and then walked down to the creek where we rinsed off the day's salt. Then we split a hazlenut Snickers which was good! I'm full now.We saw a rattlesnake on the trail! That marks our 2nd (alive) rattler. It was pretty with a black tail - a timber rattlesnake. Here at Dennis Cove, I've heard two different barred owls and several thrushes... and right now a horse drawn wagon is going down the main road! The dogs in the campsite next to us do NOT like the wagon one bit. Nor do they like anyone walking by, especially with dogs. The people are not happy with the dogs. I feel bad for those dogs - the people just stuck them in the car. :(