Date: 2007-05-10
From: Niday Shelter

To: VA 624
Miles today: 16.6

Today has been a torturous day for us, to say the least. We started out at about 7:40 and almost immediately started climbing. It was gradual at first but then got steeper. We went from 1800 feet down to 1540 feet over the next 1.3 miles. Over the next almost 4 miles we climbed to 3100 feet. I remembered from 05 that there was a park bench at the top and I was anxiously anticipating seeing it today. Luckily, it was still there and a welcome sight. This mountain is also the site of the Audie Murphy Monument. For those that don't know, he was the most decorated American soldier of WW II, and his single-handed capture of a large number of German soldiers made him a legend. After the war, he starred in many Hollywood war and B-grade western movies. He died in a 1971 plane crash near this site. We did not go up the blue-blazed trail because it was UP!! I went up in 05 and have pictures of the monument.We had planned to stop hiking at Lost Spectacles Gap for a total of around 15 miles but as the day went on we thought that we could hike another mile and a half and go to the road that has this wonderful AYCE family style restaurant that has been acclaimed to be the best place to eat along the trail. So we decided to do just that. However, we did not figure on Dragon's Tooth to take everything we had to get over it. From the road just before starting up the mountain we went fron 1525 feet to 3020 feet. Dragon's Tooth was 4 miles from the road and it seemed to take forever to get there. And, of course, it was VERY ROCKY!! Why could I not remember how difficult it was? O how long it took to go those 4 miles! Then coming down we got off the trail and were going straight down where it looked like someone else had gone down. But then we did not see any whites blazes anywhere. So we start back up, back-tracking until we found blazes. It is a wonder we did not slip on the rocks and loose dirt and fall completely to the bottom. The trail was all rock when we finally got back on it and very nasty to navigate. Even before we started going down I had some not so nice names I was calling the trail. It was up and down over the ridge top over and over until we were just sick of it. I almost cried!!When we finally got to the bottom at 2550 feet where Lost Spectacles Gap is we decided we were staying there. It is a beautiful area for setting up a tent and even though there is no water there we had watered up 5 miles earlier at VA 620 at Trout Creek. We were sitting on a log and changing from our boots into our Crocs when an angel appeared from a blue-blazed trail that goes to a parking area just off VA 611. Toto told him we had planned to go in to Catawba to the restaurant but we just didn't have anything left to get to the road and hitch a ride. He said, "Follow me out and I'll take you." We did not hesitate. On go our boots again for the mile and a half walk to the parking lot. We decided that instead of going back and walking the mile and a half back in just so we can do the mile and a half from where we left the trail, to walk another mile and a half to VA 624 on the AT that we would just go straight to VA 624 tomorrow and forget about walking the mile and ahalf of trail we didn't walk. A mile and a half is a mile and a half. Well, Joe, our angel, gave us his phone number in case the restaurant owners would not let us camp here. Bless him!! But there was not need to call him since the owners do allow hikers to set up tents on the property after closing at 8PM. There are 3 gazebos and we have our tent set up in one. It was supposed to rain and has rained already but not for long so far. I cannot imagine what those rocks will be like tomorrow on Dragon's Tooth if it rains more tonight or tomorrow. We are lucky to be where we are. We have seen more azaleas blooming today. A new color we saw was yellow. Also, we saw our first rhododendrums in full bloom. The most beautiful things we saw up on Dragon's Tooth were pink ladyslippers---quite a few of them. The views were spectacular from up there as well. We also saw lots of blossoms on blueberry bushes along the trail.As much as we felt like getting off the trail today, we know that tomorrow we will be more rested and ready to hike. We have a zero day waiting for us on Sunday. We WILL make it through the next 2 days--rain or shine. Life is Great!Dorothy & Toto