Date: 2009-06-02
From: Pickle Branch- Campsite

To: Campbell Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

We slept until 7:00am and headed out by 8:00am toward the "Dragons Tooth", we were roughly 3 miles from there. Actually we renamed it "Dragons Jawline" because the whole way was steep and rugged up and downs- lots of rock climbing and steep ridges. It was definetly a very hard morning. The heat kicked in by 9-9:30 and we were pouring with sweat all day. Berry laughed pretty hard when I told her the forcast from my forehead was heavy showers all day. The ascent took us much longer than expected and the descent was pretty technical as well, we had to be very careful. We had brief interactions with Wolf Pack and Flatlander along the way. Everyone was pretty beat up and the consensus was that the heat was really taking a toll. Later in the day we heard stories of several hikers getting lost along the ridgeline because of the rocks and lack of painted blazes. Finally we were almost to a road that went to the nearby Catawba convenience store, only 6 miles from where we started. Just as we were making it top the road we saw a cooler filled with ice cold soda's with a nice little note to thru-hikers- perfect! We chugged our soda's and headed to the store where we saw Spicoli, Wolf Pack and Side Show layed out on the sidewalk in front of the store. We talked with them for a while and sipped on some cold gatorade before grabbing a bbq pork sandwich. We did a 2 day resupply at the store and sat outside in the shade for some time. Flatlander walked up an hour later looking pretty depleated. He called some locals (the people who put the cooler by the trail- they were inviting hikers to stay with them) and they picked him up. We found out later that lots of hikers took advantage of the offer to stay with these nice people due to the heat and unexpected terrain.We pressed on with Spicoli, Wolf Pack and Side Show. It was a long, slow and hard day- very hot. Constant up and downs, but we had some motivation because today was the day we were to summit McAffee Knob. It's one of the most famous places on the A.T. The 5 of us took long breaks in the shade all day but kept moving at our various paces. Eventually we all arrived on the summit with the same goal in mind- to watch the sunset and enjoy dinner on the Knob. It was amazing! A large storm front came rolling in making the sky and view breathtaking. We all sat up there for a long time taking pictures, talking and eating. Freebird showed up with his brother and a friend to witness the sunset. They had arrived earlier in the day and had set up camp further down from the knob. We all had a great time seeing what was worth any amount of difficulty- what people pay money to see in picture books. It made all the heat and rocks and climbs worth it all. We didn't actaully see the sun fully set on account of the storm rolling in, but we were up there for nearly 3 hours. The sky was beautiful and I took some good pictures (at least I think so). I meditated on Psalm 19: 1-7, as I often do when I see a magestic view and wide open skies.We booked it down a half mile to the shelter and tented for the night. Safe and sound now in our tents. The wind is blowing hard- Rain? Who knows.....