Date: 2018-05-02
From: Davis Farm Campsite

To: Helveys Mill Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

DAY 57We listened to cows in the valley mooing a lot last night. We also heard owls, turkeys, and coyotes during the night. Sounded like the coyotes were very close by. Surprisingly, I slept quite well and had trouble getting up this morning. Found out our fellow camper was another thru hiker whose trail name is Dynasty (like Duck Dynasty) who started in late February. He had some good snow stories to tell of going through the Smoky Mountains.We ate, packed up, and got kind of a late start around 8:30. By the time we made it back up the hill to the trail again it was nearly 9:00. A little more rocky ridge walk, but as we started down toward the next shelter the trail smoothed out and was quite nice. We got water at the shelter and talked to a trail crew that was coming in to take care of some blow downs. We are in a wilderness area, so all work has to be done with hand tools. As always, we thanked them for their work. We also tried to clean some of the built up grime off our bodies as it's been hot and sweat and salt builds up, and if you don't try to clean up some it is difficult to sleep.Climbed up from the stream onto the ridge for several miles. The temperature today is again quite hot, but at least the trail has better footing. When we came off the ridge we came to Laurel Creek where we got more water and soaked our aching feet in the cold water. It felt good, but we had to get moving because we had 7 miles to make it to the Brushy Mountain Outpost that closes at 8:00, and it is already after lunch. The Brushy Mountain Outpost is right on the trail and serves hot food, cold drinks, ice cream, and has some resupply. We are hoping to stop in for dinner and a few resupply items.The trail was excellent, but at the end of a long, hot day it is always tough on the uphills. When we got to the road we met a runner who passed us doing some trail running both ways. He offered us a ride, but since the road is part of the trail we politely declined. He understood that we didn't want to skip any of the trail. We were proud of ourselves for making it to the Outpost by 5:50. I sat down at the picnic table and was talking to "Trial" and "Error", a couple of hikers when "Trial" mentioned "If you want ice cream you better hurry up, they close at 6:00". I quickly ran in and found out she was right, I had misread the time in the guide book. Fortunately, the owner was very nice and said part of the grill was closed, but we could still get burgers. We each had a burger and fries and shared an ice cream. The owner even let us sit inside to eat while they cleaned up. We hesitated about hiking on as the owner offered to let us camp out back and have breakfast in the morning. Ultimately, we decided to do the 2 plus miles to the next shelter. So, with super full bellies, we headed down the steep road to the overpass to cross I-77 and then even lower into the valley only to turn off the road and head up a very steep set of switch backs for about a mile. After sitting and eating all that food our bodies weren't too happy about getting going again, especially our stomachs. We made good time and found a nice, soft camping spot. Of course, this shelter is .3 off the trail and the water is .3 down a steep hill. This is the shelter that I had the worst day and night on my 2011 hike, so I had some reservations about going here again. Water is so scarce in this area that it is the best option.After a long day we boiled some water and cleaned up a little so hopefully we will sleep well tonight. I guess my heel is getting better, well at least it's not getting worse. It is still sore and gets more painful as the day goes on, but doesn't look any worse. Once again I figured the mileage wrong, so we should be at Trent's Grocery tomorrow, not in two days. That is a good thing because we both need a shower bad. Tomorrow we should pass the 600 mile mark, and it will be our 16th day in a row hiking.Off to bed because we have 15 miles to do tomorrow before we get showers.