Date: 2007-05-11
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Apple House Shelter
Miles today: 8.2

May 11, Restful DayHappy birthday, Matthew!Today was a good day. I woke up to my rain fly all wet. Apparently I didn't hear the rain last night. But I also woke up to the amazing views from Overmountain Shelter. I wiped my tent down and got ready for the day. I felt like a walking disaster but I was still ready on time.The trail started with a climb, as usual. We climbed Little Hump Mtn., then Hump Mtn., both balds with great views of the hills. The climbing was tough but Certain and I broke it up by trading cameras and taking action shots as we hiked. We were graced by the presence of about a dozen deer running across the trail from a hunter and their dog. We were left with a tiny black and white dog standing in the middle of the trail barking. Quite a sight. I saw two of the deer again later in the morning.The day was warm so we took a nice break on top of Hump Mtn. for some snacks. We met Taco, a thru-hiker from last year, with his friends on a section hike. They played frisbee around our heads. The rest of the day was all downhill - literally. There was about five miles of downhill. Lots of greenery, lots of sweet-smelling air, lots of rocks and tree roots. I had to stop several times today to fix my duct tape dressings - extremely annoying. My new shoes are eating away at my heels. Grr. Hopefully when they are broken in their appetite for my skin will diminish.We got to Doll Flats around 1:30 p.m. - a neat place along the hill with great views and grassy fields. We stopped there for a while and talked with Boognish on some big rocks. It was relaxing and extremely tempting to call it a day but we got moving again around 2 p.m. and the rest of the trail was pretty easy. We got to Apple House Shelter around 3:30 p.m. and started talking with Fuzzy Monkey. We tossed around the idea of heading 0.8 miles to a hostel, hiking a few miles more, or staying put. There is a history of vandalism at this shelter but we all decided we'd stay here together. No one is sleeping in the shelter tonight - there are eight of us in tents right now with more expected soon.I staked out a great campsite - lots of places to hang things on the trees, a little space tucked away for my tent, and a stream running nearby.It's been really nice relaxing at the shelter for a couple of hours. I had time to dry out my tent a bit and do a little laundry and take a bandana bath...all before dinner! Speaking of dinner, I tried something new - some sort of Asian soup with rice noodles and dehydrated vegetables. Not a lot of taste or excitement.We are here tonight with Fuzzy Monkey, Freight Liner, Quick Toes, Flaxseed, Hiccup, and Yellow Snowman. Fun group. Fuzzy built a great fire and Freight Liner left a message for his friends to bring us ingredients for smores. We'll see if that worked....Well we all got to talking around the fire...about how hungry we were. We heard that the hostel 0.8 miles away serves breakfast so that got us dreaming. We called the hostel to see what time breakfast would be available and what they'd have. Blueberry pancakes, fried potatoes, cinnamon rolls... mmm. Needless to say, my alarm is being set for 6 a.m. and seven of us are hiking to food in the morning. Happy, happy dreams tonight.- Sound of someone rummaging through their things, Freight Liner talking, the stream near my tent.Post Trail Thoughts:I remember Certain really wanted to stay at Doll Flats that day. But I was antsy and I insisted that we push on. It was rempting to stay there with Boognish though, who had explained to us that he had no choice but to stay - for the next day he would be attempting 26 miles to celebrate his 26th birthday. Wow. Later that evening, we all started a "happy birthday Boognish" page in the Apple House Shelter register. I found out later that he had seen it and appreciate it. Just another neat thing about the trail community.