Date: 2014-05-24
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Dragon's Tooth
Miles today: 26.7
Weather: broken clouds

I hiked a lot today off and on with AZ Cruiser and we got to know each other better. I really enjoyed our conversations. He¢s keeping a journal, too, and is also keeping a separate blog to raise money for a couple of charities back in Phoenix. We also hiked a little with Three Way, a young guy out for a one week section hike. He takes this week off each year to hike a section of the AT, starting a Springer a few years ago. He¢s called Three Way because he also takes a few days off each year to hike a section of the PCT, and a few days off to hike a section of the CDT. I wonder which one he¢ll finish first. Lost my pack?! StileThe day started off hiking across the valley through meadows and then climbing up the ridge on the other side of the valley. Along the ridge and then down across another valley to climb another ridge. I was hiking by myself along one of these ridges when I noticed large piles of rocks, obviously piled by man and not nature, occurring very frequently as I went along the trail. I passed a couple of SoBo hikers who were also wondering why the piles were there, several dozen of them. The ground around the area was still somewhat rocky, so it didn¢t seem to be because a farmer had cleared the ground to plant crops. Another AT curiosity! Wonder who piled up these rocks?AZ and I both stopped for lunch at the Niday Shelter. There were several young hikers fixing lunch at the picnic table and I joined them, while AZ sat on the edge of the shelter nearby. Stevie Wander was one of them and I met The Pope, Nora V and a couple others. When Nora asked me my name, she immediately recognized that I must be the astronaut. I guess my rep is getting around. Nora said she was given her name because when she started out, her group thought she violated every rule for not contacting the norovirus. Happy Birthday Nora!The Pope was trying to cook a birthday cake to celebrate Nora¢s birthday today! He came up with some chocolaty sludge onto which they added some canned frosting and some fresh strawberries. The strawberries were good; the rest was pretty much just sugar. Also passed by the Audie Murphy monument today. He was the most decorated American in WWII and died in a plane crash near here in 1971. Audie Murphy MonumentI had planned to find a nice tent site early along the last ridge of the day, a ridge that curved around in a large arc and ended with a climb up to Cove Mountain and a large rock formation called the Dragon¢s Tooth. But I didn¢t find any sites I liked and ended up hiking all the way to the Dragon¢s Tooth. There was a large camping area there and three folks had already set up their tents: thru hiker and Virginia Tech grad Lop Sang and two of her Virginia Tech friends up just for the night, Dan and Paul. Apparently, the Dragon¢s Tooth is a popular day hike for Tech students. While we were chatting, Stevie Wander showed up and chatted for a while. He was headed for the hostel a couple of miles down the mountain, and headed off when it started to get dark. Lop Sang said her trail name comes from some TV show¢s counselor character, and I guess folks were seeking her for advice when they started out. She, Dan and Paul were expecting some more friends to join them, but they didn¢t arrive. I climbed up on the rocks to see the view; the sun was setting through the trees to the west. I then came down and set up my tent while they built a fire and we chatted and ate in the fading light before I finally got in my tent and crawled into my sleeping bag. About 10:00 more of their friends finally arrived and set up their tents and chatted. I didn¢t mind; they were having fun seeing each other and I drifted off to sleep.