Date: 2017-05-16
From: Dennis Cove Road + Black Bear Resort

To: Pond Flats tent site
Miles today: 5.4

From Fatboy:Sleep was elusive last night.  My legs and feet were screaming at me and I couldn't get comfortable no matter what position I tried to lie in.  There were a couple of hikers who felt the need to abuse a string instrument.  It sounded like a badly out of tune ukulele and a woman was channeling some vintage Cranberries style yodeling as accompaniment in a different key.  It was so bad that we were laughing out loud at intervals but it did help distract us from how badly our legs hurt.  It was cool enough in our cabin that were comfortable with the windows closed to drown out the wailing but I locked the doors just in case.  I've never felt afraid in all of our miles of hiking or all of the places we set up camp but I knew I did not want to meet whoever was making those noises.I woke up at 0614 and made coffee for us.  Our morning ritual used to involve expensive coffee pods brewed in a space age single cup coffee maker.  Now we're drinking instant granules of whatever single serving variety we can get and we're grateful for that.  The most amazing thing happened during the night.  Both of our legs and feet stopped hurting.  I could walk and even climb and descend stairs without agony.  Lots of ibuprofen probably helped.  We inventoried our supplies and made a list of needs to get us to Damascus and went to the camp store to buy breakfast and do our shopping.  We also were first in line for the wash machine so we only had to wait until the hostel cleared out or 0900 to begin our washing.  I had two Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage and egg biscuits and a fruit bar as well as about 4 cups of coffee.  I was still hungry but I knew we were leaving as soon as our laundry was done and our planned section had a really big climb in it.  I didn't want to feel loaded down and was still apprehensive that my legs would return to their screaming at any time.  I found that the store had a bathroom scale.  When I left Texas the last week of February I weighed 234.2 pounds naked, first thing in the morning before breakfast or coffee.  This morning I weighed 214 pounds with my clothes on.  I haven't been this light since I left the military in 1992.  I wouldn't recommend hiking the AT as a weight management regimen.  Join a gym and hire a personal trainer.  It'll cost a lot less, it won't hurt as much, and you'll get to keep all of your toenails.We left the cabin about 1100 and we're lucky enough to get a ride in the back of a pickup to the trailhead.  That saved us almost half a mile of road walking in the sun and it was a great way to start our day.  The first section of the trail passed near Laurel Falls and included some significant rock stairs and steep scrambles.  It was worth every risked injury to see the falls.  The entire river valley was cool and the air was moist.  It really was quite beautiful and the trail proceeded along a very narrow ridge alongside the river at the edge of some significant cliffs.  The water was crashing over the rocks and made a lot of noise.  I tried to get a photo of Ginger and yelled for her to face me but quickly determined that was a bad idea because I had to yell so loudly that she thought I was alarmed about something.  I did get the photo but the expression on her face wasn't really a smile.  We climbed back to the ridge tops and enjoyed some easy hiking for a while.  Then we began to climb.  We had decided that we were going to have a short day for a couple of reasons.  First, we didn't want to destroy my legs and, second, we needed to avoid camping near Watauga Lake because of bear problems.  Our destination was a little less than 6 miles but included a climb of almost 1000 feet within a couple of miles.  That's something to be wary of with fully supplied packs and sore legs. We did complete the climb and set up camp near a water source in a secluded site with logs for sitting, level ground, and a perfect tree for hanging our food.  It was a score and we were set up by 1800.  We had a special dinner of ramen noodles, mashed potatoes, and cubed Spam.  I added some hot sauce to mine and it really was pretty tasty.  We cleaned up our dishes, hung our bear bag, took care of some hygiene issues and retired to our tent by 1930 to escape the bugs.  Tomorrow we'll easily pass the restricted area with the bear problems.  My legs didn't hurt and it was a great day with my best friend.From Ginger:What a wonderful day! I believe we were both powered by the short day and better nutrition. Loved sharing the falls with Nathan. It's one of our favorite spots so far. FEELING the cool spray was powerful, and getting through that beast of a climb together was a triumph.