Date: 2013-05-27
From: Calf Mountain Hut

To: Somewhere South of Loft Mountain Campground
Miles today: 10.0

Dry camp on the way to Loft Mountain Campground.Beast cub, ruth and I woke up at dawn. The girls were giggly and NOT achy at all! I asked Cub if she was sore. She replied,"Um, Let me check (wiggle, wiggle)...uh Nope!". Lucky kid...oh the benefits of Youth. I grabbed her socks and gave her a puppet tickle. Cub said, "Waking up on the trail is so much fun." we were up before anyone- even the hikers in the shelter but were the last to leave at around 11am. We took a long time to get our water set up because we had to filter a lot due to the fact that there is no water source for the next 13 miles. It's hot out here too. Luckily and thankfully and gratefully a trail angel left multigallon containers of water throughout the trail. Amazing! Lots of upward climbing, gasping for air. I feel like my lungs are being squeezed by relentlessly big monster hands reaching in my chest with glee. Happily I was able to keep going. Ruth has been going super slow. She's manipulating the group and playing on the sympathies of our friends. Its like she thinks if she doesn't try and is a pain I'll let her go home. No way after all the trouble she has recently caused at home. She needs this trail more than any of us. Well maybe she and I are tied in our need though each has a different one from the other. For me this I need to recharge and save myself from the Depression I have been weighted under. For her I feel like this is the only way I can save her from herself. Please trail...do your thing and save us. Nature is the only cure I have left. Muir and Roosevelt we hear you.So I realize Ruth will hike for comfort. I tell her if we reach the camp she can have a shower and hot meal. Suddenly there is a pick up in her pace.We have a leisurely lunch on top of the ridge with pink flowers all around us. We set up camp around 4:30pm after a slight, misty rain. We got the tents up fast and started dinner. Mashed potatoes, veggies and leftover spaghetti made up our culinary delights. Delicious starches cascaded down our parched throats. While eating Sarah sighed and stated her desire was to see a bear. Not up close but in the distance so she could go back to college and tell the exciting story of a safe bear encounter. Within seconds of her statement she calmly says..."Really, really, guys, really there is a bear right there. A huge bear walked past our food covered selves, never stopping but continuing to move his massive self down the very trail we were following. It never turned its head to look at us. It was around 50 feet away. We were all holding our food in cups and had pots of food all around us. We were so surprised and relieved when he casually walked right on by. Sarah got her wish and a new nickname. Teasing her about her casual and calm exclamations we decided she would now be called, "Really!". We ran into an ATC worker who checked us out and encouraged us. "One step at a time" and "hike your own hike"were her words of wisdom. She'd thru hiked the trail several times and said we can surely do it! She hikes 5 days a week with 2 days off and then back again. I think she is called a Ridgerunner. She does this all summer, keeping the hikers safe and also in line. Everyone we've met on the trail is so upbeat; fun-loving, positive and supportive of each other. I am so happy to see Beast and Beast Cub bonding. He's been gone overseas serving in the Army over in the Middle East. Scary times for us. Cub has had so little time with her big bro' so this is especially sweet to witness. They hike together everyday. I think she is thrilled with his naming of her and his attention and praise. She has had the least amount of time with him. She was just entering the family when he was leaving. Today Brynne earned her trail name. She pooped on her foot then stepped in it and was a general, overall gross mess. Laughing and running around the woods shrieking,"Whoops! there it is!" This because of her insistence in drinking olive oil to compensate for her mostly vegetarian diet. Things just come out of her body so quick she thinks a laughter filled "Whoops!" makes up for her disgusting ways. We all agree "Whoops!" sums up a life time of living with mess prone Brynnie. I sit here watching her scrap poop off her foot in hysterical laughter. We are all laughing so much my sides hurt more than my feet. No complaints with that! We play games led by Whoops! until it gets too dark to see.