Date: 2014-05-09
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Watauga Lake Shelter 
Miles today: 16.6

I slept in my tent last night and Slim, AZ, and 3G ended up staying in the shelter. Pockets, from Switzerland was there as well as Firefly and Woodchuck, a couple from Canada. I was awakened about 1:00 AM by several Barred Owls that were establishing territorial boundaries in the area. One owl was in a large tree directly over the camp site and was bellowing out a very loud angry call as other owls got closer to him. As soon as they backed off, he returned to his typical "Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoo...Hoo Hoo, Hoo, Hooawww" call. Pockets left camp at around 4:00 AM to get in some early morning night hiking. The first nine miles of the hike were beautiful as we hiked along the Laurel River and then up to the beautiful and powerful Laurel Water Fall. Slim decided that the water below the falls was just too tempting so he jumped in to cool off. AZ and I resisted at the time. I caught my first glimpse of some of the flowering plants that are soon to be present all over the hillsides over the coming weeks. I saw a Flame Azalea, which with its bright orange flowers was first thought to be fires burning in the forest by the first European Botanists studying plants in the area. I also saw a blooms coming from what I at first thought was a Rhododendron, but it may have just been another form of Azalea.After climbing out from the area of the falls, there was a one mile "Blue Blaze" trail leading to a road gap that would lead you close to the town of Hampton, Tennessee. Since we all needed to re-supply, Slim and 3G decided to take the Blue Blaze, whereas AZ and I decided to continue on up a steep hill which would lead to another opportunity to get into town later. It turned out to be a great decision, but it left me seriously questioning the logic of the "official" trail. The Blue Blaze follows the beautiful Laurel River and pretty much gets you through the area where you eventually want to go. The "official" trail leads you up a steep climb of 1,900 feet for no apparent reason, only just to take you down the other side. These hills are known in the hiker world as Pointless Up and Downs (PUDs for short), since they provide no views and the area at the top looks exactly like the area 1,900 feet below. Whereas, there is some satisfaction gained from summiting a named peak with excellent views. you can usually buy a t-shirt proclaiming that I summited Mount Washington in 2014. As I climbed this steep PUD (I later began calling it Big PUD), I was cursing under my breath that this was insanity as I thought about how much nicer it would be to hike along a beautiful river as opposed to climbing a steep hill for no reason. I later joked with my group that I was going to have a t-shirt made proclaiming that I summited "Big PUD" in 2014.I found AZ near the road gap with access to the town and when we got there, there were already 3 other hikers trying to hitch into town. Someone said that it was going to be difficult for all 5 of us to get a ride and I said "All we need is one pick-up truck". Just a few seconds after I said that, I guy in a pick-up 50 yards down the road hollered at us and we had our ride. He dropped us off at the Mcdonald's/Convenience market and I had a Big-Mac, fries, chicken sandwich, chocolate shake and soda. AZ and I then walked back into the town and did our resupply shopping. In Brown's Market, I noticed that two of the boys working in the store looked like brothers so I engaged them in conversation and soon their Dad joined in. after a few minutes I asked where we might get a ride back to the trail and Dad offered his son up for a free shuttle. the Trail Gods were working in our favor today. I have to admit, Hampton, Tennessee was the least favorite town that I had visited along the trail and there were reports of bad blood between the town and the official trail. I was happy to be leaving the town and be back on the trail. With a light drizzle starting and the threat of more rain in the forecast, AZ and I planned to hike a few more miles for the day and we got to the Watauga Lake Shelter and found that it was empty, we decided to stop knowing that if the weather got too bad, we would be inside. Within a few hours, we were joined by Slim and 3G, who both admitted that our option to hike Big PUD first was the better option. Storm Crow, a retired postal carrier also joined us for the evening.