Date: 2009-04-29
From: Kincora Hostel, TN

To: Vandeventer Shelter, TN
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: few clouds

Tanglefoot had picked up a dozen eggs and some cheese from the store last night. I donated some bagels since I only need three for my feedbag. He made an excellent egg and cheese bagel for our breakfast. We left the extra supplies there for the other hikers and they were soon gone. While we were eating our breakfast another hiker sat down at the picnic table with his breakfast. He had three cans and a can opener. He had one can of chicken stew, one of asparagus spears and one of strawberries. He proceeded to open the cans one at a time and eat the contents cold. The things hikers eat. I told Tanglefoot that I had heard the cats that live on the property throughout the night. He said he didn't hear them. When we were packing up, I figured out why I heard them. I have a space between my rainfly and tent that provides a perfect hiding spot for a cat playing cat games. They were playing cat games on all four sides of my tent. There was one young cat named Missy that really liked playing. I had a very hard time taking my tent down with Missy pouncing on everything. I kept chasing her away, but that just became part of the game to her. I'm just glad I didn't wake in the middle of the night and see two cat eyes staring at me. Ha. As always the trail goes up when I leave a town. Everyone has been telling us that the 50 some odd miles to Damascus, VA were very easy. I don't know what path they took, but the trail was so steep in places that I could reach out with my hand and touch the trail in front of me. I'm not kidding. I went up 2000 ft, crossed the top with nothing to see up there, and then went down 2000 ft. I don't know why we have to go to the top of every mountain. I think the trail maintainers go out of their way to find the hardest path possible for the trail to take. While I was hiking up this crazy mountain, I passed four hikers slack packing north to south. Slack packing is when a thru-hiker day hikes a portion of the trail. These four hikers left their backpacks at the hostel, used a day pack for water and snacks, got a lift to the other side of the mountain and then hiked back to the hostel. It was definitely easier hiking that mountain North to South then the way I hiked it. Some hikers think it breaks the rules of thru-hiking, but I don't care. On the other side of this mountain was Watauga Lake. The trail took us right by the lake with picnic tables, trash cans and a real restroom. Tanglefoot, Shorty and her dog, Sonny, were already there. We had lunch, soaked our sore feet in the cold lake and just enjoyed the day. We did complain about the crazy steep trail. Ha. I had planned to stay at the first shelter, but we arrived there at 3:30. I don't like stopping that early, because it makes for a long night. So, I thought I'd hike a little further with Tanglefoot and find a campsite somewhere along the way for the night. The trail wound around the lake and went across the dam. It then went up on a ridgeline and stayed there. No where to camp on a ridgeline, so we kept walking. We had about four miles left to the next shelter and I was getting really tired. There was a water source listed in the databook several miles before the shelter and that was where I was planning to stay. The trail took us off the ridgeline, down to a dried up water source with no good camping sites and then back up to the ridgeline. Not funny. We started to hear thunder in the distance and a ridgeline is no place for hikers during a thunderstorm. Nothing like a little thunder to motivate two hikers to hike a lot faster. I think that was the fastest I have moved since I started this hike. We finally made it to the shelter and Brown Cow could tell I was exhausted and made room for me to sit inside the shelter to rest. Thanks Brown Cow. We weren't at the shelter 10 minutes before the storm started. It wasn't that bad of a storm, but I was glad to be at the shelter. It is my longest day yet at 17.5 miles. Sleeping in the shelter tonight is Minnesota I.P.A., Ewok, Shorty and her dog Sonny, Tanglefoot, Brown Cow, Brown Chicken and me. Bit crowded, but everyone is dry.