Date: 2004-06-19
From: Laurel Fork Shelter

To: Braemar Castle Hostel - Hampton
Miles today: 7.0

Had a very interesting discussion last night after dinner. Dr John, who is a PhD in geology and a very liberal thinker, and Blister Bill, who is a believer in the Universal Sub consciousness, UFO, and Vast Government Conspiracies, and a former novice Monk, and I, had a free ranging discussion that included - the rights of man, UFO, Esp, Spirits, and multidimensional and parallel universes. It was a great talk ¢ but the only thing that we could all agree to was that Bush needs to go!      Bill lit a candle; made from salvaged bits of wax that he found, and the shelter was suffused with a meditative yellow orange glow from the candlelight as the sun set and the darkness gradually encroached.   Arose at 6am, as did all ¢ and was back on the main trail by 7.30am. I am not at all hungry and am eating very little which is, I am sure, contributing greatly to my daily feelings of weakness and fatigue.   The trail dove back down to the Laurel Fork River and the magical riverside walk of yesterday was repeated. The trail takes an unexpected side branch off of the main path, and it was tempting to continue on the main path on the banks of the Laurel via the blue blazed trail on a short cut to Hampton. But no ¢ it was the white blazes for me.      It was a big ascent up to Pond Flats ¢ 2000¢ in two miles ¢ very steep and hot, sweaty and exhausting. Took me a full two hours to get to the top, where both Bill and John passed me.      The trail down off the Flats was great. Very well maintained, broad and level, with a gentle slope all the way down to US321. As a day hiker I met on the ascent said ¢You will enjoy the trip down¢ ¢ I did!   There is a Shook Branch Picnic area at the road junction with a beech and an enclosed swimming area. There was an active weekend crowd enjoying the Watauga Lake recreational amenities. I stopped to get some water and met Bill who frankly admitted that both he and John had been lollygagging around and were much captivated by the recreational area and were reluctant to move on.      I turned west on the 2.6-mile hike into Hampton ¢ made some attempts at hitching ¢ but finally decided to just hoof it. Very hot with the traffic whizzing by, frequently within a foot or so of me. Not much room for pedestrian traffic on US321! I think that those 2.6 miles were the most dangerous that I have hiked so far.   Made excellent time into Hampton and soon located Browns Grocery Store and was introduced to Sutton Brown who owns the Breamer Castle Hostel ¢ the former office of the Pittsburg Lumbar Company that had logged the Laurel Gorge from 1909 to 1925. He inherited the place from his grandparents. It is a very impressive rock built building and well deserves the title of ¢Castle¢. It is impeccable clean and is the nicest and best-equipped hostel that I have yet stayed at. I am in a single room on the second floor, which is better than many, a hotel. I met with his wife Beverly, who is the power behind the neatness and the cleanliness.   The town of Hampton stretches out along US321, but Sutton kindly gave me the use of a bike to explore the town. This was after he showed me the ¢Dungeon¢ which contains a modern washer and dryer. Cycling around Hampton on busy US321 ¢ I haven¢t cycled in years ¢ was even more dangerous for me than hiking in on the road. All went well however and I am currently showered, changed, fed [Bacon Cheese Burger and Fries] and resupplied [will try Cool Aid Mix and Pop Tarts] Spent some time on the public phone outside the Grocery Store with Wife and Family ¢ only to be interrupted by a sudden down power. Such are the difficulties of using public phones.   I figure five days to Damascus ¢ profile looks good and Dr John reports that good mileage can be anticipated here. We shall see.   Thought for today ¢         When science says that it cannot explain something ¢ it does not mean that aliens from another planet are responsible! It just means tat science cannot explain it. [With regards to last night¢s discussion with Blister Bill]