Date: 2011-06-01
From: Brown Mountain Creek Shelter

To: Seeley-Woolworth Shelter
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: few clouds

Seeley-Woolworth Shelter. 6/1. Total distance 15.8 miles. Got up this morning and just took my time even though there was a big climb at the start of the day's hike. It's nice to get those out of the way while it's still cool but this morning, that didn't worry me enough to get me going by 7. The climb basically took is from 1500 feet to 4000 feet with most of bring done in the last couple of miles. My nice dry shirt was completely soaked with sweat by the time I got to the top. It was simply that hot because of the humidity though the temperature was reasonable. I ended up getting a snack toward the top of the climb. My appetite has continued to increase because of the longer distances that I'm covering. "Half Man"caught up with me just as I was packing back up to continue so we hiked together for a little while. Eventually, she couldn't keep up with me on the hill so she fell behind. We were treated to some great views throughout the day. Because I stopped at an intermediate shelter that "Half Man" didn't stop at, she got ahead of me. She eventually stopped at a tree near the first water source past the precious nights camping area. The neat thing about this spot was that it was shady and cool. It also had a swing which was fun to play on. We rested there for a while which also gave us a break from hiking in the hottest part of the day. "Sparkplug" and "Soul Slosher" eventually joined us under the shade tree. I found my first attached tick on my stomach purely by accident. It would not let go with alcohol swaps or even hand sanitizer. As it turned out, "Sparkplug" is a nurse and had the right tweezers for pulling the tick out. Hopefully, if I get another one, it will be easier to remove. We took off for the shelter leaving "Sparkplug" and "Soul Slosher" at the tree. The bugs were simply horrible all the way to the shelter and even at the shelter. There are these small biting flies all over the place, especially near marshy areas. One can easily have a dozen or so swarming around trying to find a spot to bite. Once they bite, they leave a small, itchy welt on the skin. The best thing to do is to keep moving so they don't have a chance to land. The temperature remained fairly reasonable all day so long pants and a long sleeve shirt was the best way to keep the flies off the skin once at the shelter. The whole crew that has been hiking together ended up at the shelter. We all had dinner and great conversation. We did have a southbounder join us who had thru-hiked in '09 named "Zipper". She was a great source of info about what was coming up on the trail. She told us places that we needed to see and stay at. I ended up turning in early because I was tired of dealing with the bugs. This was one of those tough days mostly because of the bugs. The heat is also a big contributing factor. It really makes one question why they are hiking the trail. Small issues become big in circumstances like this. Hopefully, the temperature will drop some more. Even a rain shower would be great as it would cool things down and give us a break from the bugs. But this is all part of the journey. Stories in the making.