Date: 2007-12-19
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter, TN (311 miles to Springer)

To: Little Laurel Shelter, TN 
Miles today: 21.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I am still wondering about the puppies. It is reassuring that those men all obviously loved them and were very concerned for their welfare. But they would have been very heavy to carry, and the men had their gear as well, including an assortment of tarpaulins which they slept under. I didn't think the puppies would do so well in the snow. They'd have been very tired.We had 21 miles to go today so we got away at 6:45 by torchlight. It was a very misty day with a few inches of melting snow on the trail. There was 1601 metres of climbing (1810m down) and the temperature ranged from 9o C to 1o C. It was a calm day so we got pretty hot and sweaty. The trail is easy even with the snow, until we got past Jerry Cabin Shelter when it followed along a narrow rocky ridge. There is a bypass in case of bad weather, as the ridge trail could be pretty exposed, but we went along the ridge. I did not count the large stone steps but there were a lot, going up and down, up and down. Apparently, according to a section hiker we met, there are very good views along there but we had a misty day so missed out on the rewards of negotiating all those steps. 3 miles before Little Laurel Shelter we spotted a small spring and filled up a couple of containers, 5 12 litres in all, weighing 5 12 kilos (12 lbs). We had been told that Little Laurel Shelter's water source was a "drip" and sure enough that¢s what it is. Lucky we brought the extra water with us as it takes about an hour to catch a litre and involves a hike down the hill for every fill-up since we don¢t have a bigger container that will fit under the drip. Dave has just gone down for the fifth time and I will take the pot down after washing it so it can fill up overnight. By the time we leave in the morning, we will have used around 10 litres (22 lbs). That is, a brew on arrival, soup, rice meal, another brew, then in the morning a brew then breakfast (oatmeal, baby formula, boiled dried fruit) and some water to carry. It is great to get water at roads and we are very grateful for it, but the real problem occurs where you are staying for the night.We had another gear failure. Dave¢s mug has split open and despite an emergency repair with Fixomull, is all but unusable. We¢ll have to get some duct tape in Hot Springs as it is unlikely we will find another suitable mug. I¢ve been surprised at how many people have tried to give us Ibuprofen, seems a lot of hikers take it for pain. Neither of us has any pain except for the occasional injury, all of which have been minor so far. The biggest problem I¢ve had, aside from foot problems caused by bad boots, has been a tired back. I have a muscle running vertically just under the right shoulder blade near my spine which has given no end of trouble. Otherwise, just my right foot which has something pulling, as if a tendon running along underneath it is too tight. This seems to have been the result of what I thought was a sprain on the rocks back in Maine. It has never come right but only bothers me if my feet are bare. Dave has the occasional ankle pains and pulled muscles but nothing long-term. Maybe we are just lucky. I think it has something to do with having been hiking for years so we've had about all the problems one can have.Photos by BOO-BOO