Date: 2017-04-18
From: Stealth campsite just between Sinking Creek and Ke

To: Stealth campsite on Craig Creek
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

I knew I had a shorter day today, so I tried to get a later start. My camp mates said they were getting up at 5 and leaving at 6. They were still in there tents at 8 when I left. I had a rough morning though. It is what I call my garbage can days...I am 52, this stuff should have stopped by now for crying out loud. It was a very, very low energy day for me for sure. I thought it was going to be an easy day with just one big uphill to the top of Sinking Creek Mountain in the morning, then down the other side. I was able to fill up with water rather quickly, so I made a quick stop to replenish my supply. I freed some type of bug that has been hitchhiking on my water bladder. I don't know when I picked him up. My filter is running a little slow. I will ask about it at the outfitters in Daleville. I've had it for awhile and I may need to replace the filter on my filter. I think I'll get some backup drops as well. Shortly after I started again, I saw the Keffer Oak, the largest oak tree on the AT in the South. It's over 300 years old. It looked mighty impressive. I would love to see it with leaves. I liked today's guidebook landmarks, because they were definitive and I knew where I was on mileage most of the day. Some times it's just stream, stream, view and I'm never sure which one they are referring. I made the big climb okay today. I had to take a lot of mini-breaks on the way up. Once at the top I saw Bruisers Knob Cairns. For over a mile on top of this mountain are all these rather large rock Cairns. It says they were put there by early farmers for what purpose I have no idea.I passed by Sarver Hollow Shelter, the haunted shelter, but it was 0.4 miles down off the trail and I decided to walk right past it. Then the views! What they really meant by views today was large boulders slanted rather steeply to the right. In most places, if I had fallen I wouldn't have gone to far before being stopped by a tree. A couple would have been a long slide indeed. I am so glad it wasn't raining today. They would have been impossibly slippery for me. It was slow going for me through this area. A couple places, I sat on my butt and scooted or just crawled up some trickier places. The younger hikers just zoom right through. I am not sure at what age a person gets a little more cautious. I must say there were some awesome views off to the right. I wish those types of views showed up on camera better. I did take some breaks on this section to soak in some of the sights. I will admit I was kind of glad when they were finally over. I met an older day hiker towards the end of the boulders that counted 27 north bounders today and it wasn't even 11 o'clock yet. I haven't seen that many people, but I do have more people passing me every day then the first week. Most aren't very chatty, just say thanks when I step to the side and let them pass. Most started in February, but I'm seeing more early March hikers as well. I passed by a survey marker for the Appalachian Trail. Pretty cool. I tried to find one on top of Peter's Mountain that actually said Peter's Mountain, but no luck. Next on today's agenda was the Eastern Continental Divide. There was a sign posted: 1920 to the Gulf and 405 to the Atlantic. Cool. I like signs!For wildlife sighting today, I saw many squirrels and chipmunks. Several squirrels scolded me very loudly as I walked by. I hear a lot more then I actually see. Always fun to see them though. After the divide I headed down to the Niday Shelter. It was down, but for some reason a hard down with lots of boulders and rocks along the way. Right before the shelter I saw a beautiful tree in bloom that had a couple yellowtail swallow butterflies. Or I think that's there name anyway. I stopped to watch them flutter around for a while. One left the tree to check me out, but decided the tree tasted better and returned to the tree. Spring is really here! I am seeing more and more wildflowers, trees with leaves and butterflies. At Niday Shelter, I met Uncle Sunshine. We both had a snack and found we were headed to the same campsite tonight. He is a section hiker that can do huge miles out of the gate. He did 18 yesterday on his first day out. I've never done 18. After a couple miles, I arrived at Craig Creek for the night. It is nestled in a little valley and a nice place to spend the night. There is a creek, but barely. I was able to get water and I didn't have to lug it here which made me happy. I am looking forward to a good night's sleep (hopefully). Tomorrow is another short day, but it has two big climbs for me. One first thing and one later in the day. It is supposed to rain all day as well. I hope my energy level gets better by morning.