Date: 2013-04-23
From: Meadow Stealth Camp

To: No Business Knob 
Miles today: 16.6

It took me a while to fall asleep last night, but once I did I slept soundly. I awoke to a light shining through the tent wall. I thought it was the sun so I jumped up and peeked out. But it was the moon. I smiled and went back to sleep. I set off at 8:30 on the dot. It was an easy stroll down the grassy meadow back into the woods. Again, there was a full carpet of green liberally dotted with white. The trees were large, silver and old. The bases were thick, but split low to the ground and branches gnarled and twisted out from them. It made me think of a dark fairy-tale coming to a happy ending, when good overcomes evil and the land is refreshed. There were lots of large rock out crops. Some were sharp and jagged, others were large smooth-rounded boulders covered in curled lichens. There also seemed to be lots of ATV trails crossing the hills. There were several old rusted barbed wire fences held in place by ancient weather fence posts. I can't imagine what they were trying to keep in or out.Before I realized it, I was panting my way up Big Bald. I had seen it across the way and way up when I set off this morning, but now I was here! Up close it was markedly greener than the brown patch I'd seen earlier. I could look across and see the meadow where I had tented. I had Blimy take my picture doing a headstand. I was feeling playful. I headed down the bald and across a grassy ridge into a Hobbit-esque type of wood. Big, old knotty squat silver trees keeping company with big boulders with a lush green and white rug at their feet. I'm sure they chatted with each other when people weren't around. I looked for fairies and imps, but I saw none.I stopped at the Bald Mountain Shelter for water and lunch. I signed the register and read that a hiker had written they had survived the norovirus and were happily back on the trail. I closed the book, wiped all exposed body parts with hand-sanitizer and left. A little bird with an impossibly small leg band followed me. I wondered how they got the band on without crushing its tiny leg.I was heading down a leaf-strewn trail and my right heal caught a root, and down I went. The twist wasn't as bad as the first two, but I'm concerned about my weak right ankle. It didn't hurt, but it just feels unsteady and unstable. And I still have a long way to go. I got up and dusted the leaf bits off my socks and kept walking. I finally made it down to Spivey Gap. There was an inviting fast moving creek that looked sooooo inviting. I seriously considered stripping down and soaking in the water. But I heard voices, so I kept going. I crossed the river, leaving NC and re-entering TN and started climbing. I could hear a lot of water moving, and I got excited. When I got to the foot bridge crossing the Oglesby branch I could no longer resist the call of the water. What I really wanted to do was strip down to my birthday suit and climb into the pool. Two seconds later Mama Bull and Papa Bull showed up and showed signs that they were planning to drop their packs. I alluded to my intention of getting naked. They kept their packs on and moved on. In the end, I only removed my shoes and socks and t-shirt. I soaked my feet and used my hand-kerchief to bathe. I wanted the sweat and sunscreen off. After my 5 minute ice-bath I re-robed and continued up.I'm not sure what or why, but something is killing the trees. The afternoon felt like I was walking through a tree graveyard. Pine bark and another bark I don't recognize littered the trail. White, sun-bleached tree carcasses stood erect with jagged nubs where their branches once hung. Only the mountain laurel seemed unphased. There were signs of a fire, but only in patches up the trees indicating that the bark was gone pre-fire. There were also ore irises and a wide-variety of violets.I filled up water at the last reliable water source before the shelter area (there was a note tacked to a tree saying there was no water at the shelter, so get it while you can!) I met Slow Roast, a hilarious character. I saw Sky Piolt and Odette camped out at the shelter and joined their tent city. Emperor was there looking tired and sun burned. I drank a bunch of water and ate someone's lefter Mountain House meal (I stopped a mile or so beforehand and ate about 800 calories worth of trailmix, so my appetite was sated). I should have eaten more because at 10 p.m. I woke up starving and had a tortilla with cheese.