Date: 2019-06-03
From: Stealth Site 678.1

To: Dragons Tooth 
Miles today: 23.4

Slept good in spite of being on a slant, next to a stream, next to a small country road, and dog wailing at times. I woke and got packed and on trail by 730. Cowboy & Square Peg passed as I was packing. We leapfrogged all morning. 1st stop was Keffer Oak. It¢s the largest Oak tree on the AT in the south 18¢ around and over 300 years old. We then passed the Bruisers Knob Cairns. The Cairns are stone piles at the top of the Knob. I did a little research and no one is really for sure what they are; who built them; or why. The best answer is, they are probably graves for American Indians. Some were more neatly assembled than others. I will try and upload some pictures. I then stopped and visited the Audie Murphy Monument, he was the most decorated American Soldier of WWII.I was walking along and heard rustling in the leaves. The trail was rather wide here like a roadway.  All of the sudden something darted out of the leaves and at me. It scared me but not bad because I immediately recognized it as a bird. It was some kind of quail or hen. It had a tail like a turkey but, was much smaller. It circled a few times then ran off. I met a SOBO hiker who told me there was trail magic at the next parking lot. I got there and there was a cooler full of sodas and ice, courtesy of Kringle. I had one Coke.  It tasted so good. I met another guy from Ohio named Schleprock, He started back in February and is doing 8-10 miles a day. Mid afternoon I had a long gradual climb, as I was coming down the backside late afternoon, I saw some campers. As I got closer I noticed it was Melody, I was smiling ear to ear. She turned and saw me and was completely surprised! She was with a guy and a girl . Turns out the guy lives down the street and comes regularly to the trailhead and gives hikers beers. He gave me a Bud Light. I drank my beer and chatted with Melody and Luanne, Melody¢s friend, for about 20 minutes. I asked Melody if she had a trail name yet, she said no. I told her I¢m going to start calling her Ginger Bread. Because I run and run as fast as I can and I can¢t catch her. Her friend Luanne liked it,We¢ll see if it sticks. Luanne gave me a Nature Valley and Cliff bar. They told me of more trail magic in the creek across the road. A lady had put Cokes and bottled water in the creek for hikers. I had a Coke. As I was walking away I heard Melody say to Luanne, ¢he¢s such a nice guy.¢ I was on cloud nine: Seeing a hiking friend, beer, coke, and a genuine compliment. I had so much energy I pretty much ran up the next 1/2 mile hill. I had a plan to get to a place called Dragons Tooth. There are supposed to be great views there. It was another 4 miles and it was already coming up on 600. I read on a Guthook comment there was water .3 north of the shelter, the shelter was .5 off trail. There was not even a hint of water north of the shelter on trail. Lesson, don¢t trust people on Guthooks. Most of the last two miles was uphill and rocky as I was walking a ridge line.  I remember not to long ago after walking an 8 hour day I could barely put one foot in front of another at the end of the day on a climb. I walked 13 hours today without much break, and I was still powering up the hill at 8pm. There is an area called ledges which is basically cliffs with views to the east. I made it to Dragons Tooth at 815, just before sunset. Dragons Tooth is big rocks sticking up out of the top of the mountain. I climbed them and stood on them to see the sunset over the trees. I set up my tent and prepped dinner. I had two cups of water and two Ramen Noodles. Each Ramen takes two cups of water. I figured I¢ll try. Well, in setting up the tent I knocked over the pot spilling most of the water. I heated them a little and they actually were OK. I had two slip and falls today. My shoes are fast approaching end of life and the tread is worn down. The ground is extremely dry and on the downhills sometimes there are fields of pebbles, like marbles. Both times one foot took off and the next thing I¢m on my Butt hard. Both times I had gravel in my palms. No scrapes or cuts though. The second one made my wrist hurt for a while. I took Ibuprofen before bed, hopefully I¢ll feel alright in the morning. Wildlife update: Many squirrels today-which is weird because I really haven¢t seen many of them.