Date: 2014-04-16
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 35- April 16- Kincora Hostel to Vandeventer Shelter, 17.5 miles. We had a fabulous evening in the hostel which I will describe later after I tell you about our wonderful walk today. We left Kincora Hostel at 7:30 AM with the temperature hovering around 20 degrees. The trail followed a small creek for a bit and then cut through some narrow rocky shelves which had very interesting patterns in the rock fractures. Also, there was a good bit of snow on the bright green rhododendrons which was a nice contrast of color. The trail was heading for Laurel Falls on the Laurel Fork. There was a long, steep staircase of large, uneven rocks which took all my concentration to navigate and when I reached the bottom there before me was the gorgeous Laurel Falls. It seemed to have a good flow after all the rain yesterday. We took some photos and then continued north on the AT along the river. Sometimes the trail was hugging the rocky cliffs along the water's edge and other times the trail took us to the top of those cliffs for great views up and down the river! It was all spectacular. After the falls, the river continued its descent over rocks and logs in the riverbed. I think this is my favorite 3-mile stretch on the AT so far! We crossed the Laurel Fork several times on substantial bridges before beginning our climb up and over Pond Mountain. The climb wasn't too bad and we enjoyed the views and the dusting of snow in the woods. Please note, there is no pond on top of Pond Mountain, only a large, puddle-sized waterhole! Once we started down the other side of Pond Mountain we saw Watauga Lake, which we would see for the rest of our miles today. Watauga Lake is really a dammed up river which forms this enormous lake. We walked at the water's edge and then climbed up to the ridge line above, always keeping the lake on our right. Our 17.5 miles today brought us to this shelter with great views of the lake and great cell service. We had a bit of trail magic today! Shortly after we arrived at the shelter a couple of thru-hikers and the parents of the young man arrived. We chatted a bit and then got busy with our camp chores. Then the young man (Seymour) pulls a large carrot cake out of his backpack to celebrate his parent's anniversary! We were invited to join the celebration and have cake!!!! Delicious! Now about our evening at Kincora: in a word, it was fabulous! There must have been about 20 people staying there because the weather was so poor. I think yesterday I described the leftover trail magic that was there when we arrived. At 4 PM, the owner, 71 year old, Bob Peoples, drove some of us into town for a grocery run. When we returned a former hiker came to pick up a couple of his friends to take them to dinner, but he brought 40 McDonald's cheeseburgers and 40 fries for the rest of us! Then some of the thru-hikers started cooking large volumes of food to share! We had potato soup with homemade bread, chocolate chip cookies, Nutella cookies, home fried potatoes, breakfast burritos and corn bread! Jim and I had no food to contribute so we started washing and drying dishes which everyone thought was a great idea! We laughed lot and got to know our fellow hikers all in a warm, dry cabin. Bob Peoples came into the cabin and told wonderful stories about building some of the trail and shelters in the area. He was a wealth of information and seemed to thrive on all of our questions. This hostel is funded by donations from the people who stay there, with a suggested donation of $5.00 per person per night! It is so easy to give more for the experience of staying there. The skies were clear all day with temps probably never getting out of the high 50's. The wind is blowing pretty good as I write this, so hopefully it will die down in the evening, especially since it is supposed to be another cold night! More good weather is forecast for tomorrow, a day we plan to hike 22-plus miles. All is well.