Date: 2013-06-17
From: Stealth camp near Turk Mountain

To: Loft Mountain Campground
Miles today: 15.3

I didn't sleep terribly well last night. I could never seem to fall into a deep slumber. Twice during the night I was awaken by an impish something. It sounded like a squeaky snicker accompanied by some scampering about. I'm still not sure if I dreamed it or if a forest elf got in the tent with me. Nothing was missing or seemed out of the place when I got up, but it was still a little eery. It was hard to get myself up in the morning. I didn't get up until 7. I could see all the rain drops and snails crawling over the rain fly. I didn't want to have to deal with either of them. The rain had stopped for the time being, but the clouds didn't look too promising. Is it too much to ask to have dry shoes for more than 72 hrs? Maybe.I packed up and took down the tent. I folded the Tybek groundsheet and placed it on the dry rectangle left by my tent. I sat down on it and started heating water for breakfast. I could hear the rain start to fall through the trees. Noooooo!!!! I stopped and covered my pack and then continued cooking. I was able to eat my breakfast in the relative dry. It's the small things. The morning hike passed quickly. It was humid, for sure. There was a gentle breeze that kept the bugs at bay. Somewhere along the way, I brushed up against some bushes with my bare arms. I felt a stinging itch at the crook of my elbow. I reached down to scratch it and saw a black dot. I looked closer. A seed tick. Crap! It had already buried its nasty little head in my arm. I pulled it off, and squeezed it between my fingernails. I hope that little bugger didn't give me Lyme disease. I'll have to keep a close eye on it in the days to come.The rest of the day was spent criss-crossing Skyline Drive. There was a hot, humid climb up to the top of Blackrock Mountains. It's as if the gods opened the skies and dumped a huge pile of sharp grey stones in a giant heep. The AT gods followed behind and built a trail that circled a few feet below the summit, packing in some sand to allow for footing. This looked like a great place for lunch. I spread my tent out on the rocks to dry in the sunshine. I took my shoes and socks off to air out my feet. I was afraid something would fall between the boulders, down out of reach. Luckily it didn't happen. The sun shone down intensely. I took out my camp towel and draped it over my neck and ears and then put my cap over the top of it all. The trail is no place to worry about style. It's about function. And this was functional. I ate lunch and swatted and slapped at the gnats that circled around my head. Sigh. I had set my sights on Loft Mountain Campground. The weather held off until I reached the .1 mile turn off. And then it let loose. It drenched me. The faster and harder I climbed up to the camping area, the harder the rain came down. Suddenly I was in the world of RVs and pop-up trailers. The other campers looked at me from behind their windows. And suddenly the campground looked enormous. I hadn't factored in the amount of walking I'd have to do to get around the campground (to register, to get to camp store, to get back to the camping area, etc.). I also realize that I had no idea where any of these things were. The trail kind of has you sneak in to the side of the campground with no hint as to where you are on the grounds. I walked around in the rain for about 20 mins, asking directions to the campstore. Take a left and go down the hill, those were the directions I was given. Well, it turns out it's about half a mile down to the store. The nice lady in the store said that they had nothing to do with the campground registration, and I would need to go back up the hill half a mile to the Ranger's station. I tried my best not to start crying. Instead I bought the ingredients for a Frito pie. I took my paper bag of groceries back up the hill. it started raining again. My paper bag got wetter and wetter. The can of chili starting breaking through the bottom of the bag. I got to the Ranger's station, and it was closed for the evening. I would have to self-register, find a campsite, set up my tent, and then come back to the station to slip my form and payment into the night deposit box. This was a heck of a lot more trouble than it was worth. I was started to wish I had just stealth camped at the edge of the campground. But I was here now. I found a empty campsite and started to put up my tent, but the rain started coming down hard again. I slid my backpack and soggy paper sack of groceries in the bear box (a large metal box to put in anything with a smell that might attract bears), and I thought, I bet I can fit in there. I climbed in. There was plenty of space! I so I sat in the bear box and waiting for the rain to stop. Once it did, I crawled back out and quickly put up my tent. Voila!I decided to take my phone up to the bathroom to try to charge it. Unfortunately, the storm that had passed through had knocked out all the power to the campsite. I walked back down towards my site, and I saw Redspecs. I could tell by the look on his face, he wasn't having a very good evening. He too had walked down to the campstore (to take a shower and do laundry), but the power-outage had curbed those plans. I invited him to stay stay at my campsite (2 tents are allowed per site). And we decide to do a 1.3 mile "slack pack" around the campsite (the AT circles the outside of the campground) so that tomorrow morning we can just cut through the middle of the campground. I felt quite clever about this!When we got back to our site a couple of RV campers invited us for Virgina ham sandwiches, cheese, chips, cookies and wine. Certainly! Their names were Juanita and Bobby, and they were from North Carolina. Once they found out that Redspecs was from former East Germany, his cool factor skyrocketed. I did my best to try to translate and interpret between the two groups. It was quite entertaining. Finally, we bid our farewells and retreated to our campsite. The sky was full of lightning and rumbling, rolling thunder. Someone at the campsite next to us started strumming the guitar and singing an acoustic version of "Purple Rain" and "Rocky Top Tennessee." I can certainly think of worse ways of having to fall asleep.