Date: 2005-04-18
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: few clouds

Day 30: April 18,2005Today was some rough mileage but we experience more southern hospitality with two trail magic stops. We had a leisurely morning, breaking down camp & having mocha's w/my new favorite breakfast, oatmeal squares. We took off out of camp around 9 o'clock. The hiking was easy going to start & it was a gorgeous day,clear blue sky & sunny. Just as we started getting in our groove we came upon a sign that read Trail Magic 300 yds. w/a tasty menu listed. From my experience I don't think any thru-hikers would ignore that sign & trudge on. Nate & Eagle Eye had waited for us & we were all about it. Dave walked down to see which way to go & he walked back over & a truck pulled up behind him. The friendly gentleman offerd us a ride up to his house for the trail magic. We dumped our packs in the back & jumped in. Two thru-hikers from 1999 welcomed us into their beautiful home & fed us a wonderful meal. Beef stew w/bacon & walnut biscuits & pink lemonade. And that was not all, for dessert we had a delightful homemade cherry ice cream cake w/coffee. We sat for about 2 hours & chatted with the couple about life on the trail & their experiences. It was neat b/c Vermont is their favorite part of the trail, I always like to hear that. We could have sat there all day but we had some serious miles to make. We were given a ride back to the trail, said our thank yous & were on our way. About a mile down the trail,just as we were starting to get our legs we saw another trail magic sign. So of course we had to check it out. A man was at a beautiful log cabin on many acres of land. Just the perfect spot to live. He offered us some Little Debbies oatmeal cookies, more of a sugar rush. We chatted w/him for a bit & started off again. From that point on we were welcomed back into North Carolina w/some serious uphills. In NC they do not believe in switchbacks & we saw that today. The heat was extreme & the hills had me sucking wind. Even after all the food we still stopped for lunch. Eagle Eye hooked us up w/some dried beef(salty ugh!) & awesome Cabot Cheese for tortillas. We stuffed our faces w/bars & GU drink(an energy drink) & headed on our way. We hit a beautiful part of the trail today, a very rocky ridgeline w/amazing views. The climbing was rough b/c my blisters were really bothering me. The rock & root dodging was slow going & we kept hiking & hiking. We knew that we must be getting close but we were cursing Wingfoot b/c we kept seeing a lot of signs that were not listed...we were happy that we got the 2005 edition...what's the point? Dave saw the shelter & I heard "visual" & my body relaxed. Thank goodness! We stumbled upon the shelter & met Snowman & Icicle who already had a fire going which was very nice to walk up upon. We are wiped so we grabbed spots in the shelter, had another meal of Ramen w/stuffing. Now we are sitting around the fire & chatting. Hopefully we will have a peaceful night in the shelter & will feel like doing the mileage that we planned on tomorrow. My muscles are achy & want to go & lay down. Clear night, bright moon, shiny stars!