Date: 2006-04-06
From: The Smokey Bowl Organic Farm (Hippyland)

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

4-6-06The Smokey Bowl Organic Farm (Hippyland) to Bald Mountain Shelter7.6 milesGo confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.- Henry David ThoreauIt was one of those times when everybody was awake but nobody wanted to be the first one to get up. But we did eventually, and made our way down to the hippy house. Nobody was around and Shanae went to wash her feet in the bathroom. We milled around for awhile and then Bear went down to the cabin to see if he could find anyone to give us a ride to the diner. He had no luck, they were all still asleep, but we arranged for our host to bring us there and pick us up.We were pretty hungry when we got there. Each of us ordered two drinks apiece; I had coffee and sweet tea, and surveyed the menu for our options. I ordered a vegetable omelet, two pancakes, and three eggs over easy. Bear ordered three meals, too, Tortoise, a couple, and Shanae, just one. We pigged out for that hour and I just barely managed to pack it all in. We got our ride back, gave our hippie hosts some of that green papery goodness, thank you funds, and were on our way.It was almost painful with that hip belt around my bulging stomach as we walked up our many hills and mountains today. We pretty much had one long six-seven mile climb up to the top of Big Bald today, but it wasn't too steep, we took multiple breaks, and the time went quickly by as we chatted about hippies to hiking to movies to cartoons. Shanae's pace has become much quicker since we started hiking with Tortoise and Bear, I'm guessing partly because she was rested up a bit, and partly because she wanted to keep up with our present company.We made good time and got to Bald Mountain Shelter in the early afternoon, even though we hadn't got on the trail until 11AM. It was a pretty nice little shelter, and Shanae and I set up our sleeping bags on the top bunk and quickly slipped in them, transforming ourselves into giant fluffy worms. Redneck was there eating some grub, but was moving on in a bit. Red Dog, who I hadn't seen since the first night in the Smokies, showed up. After Bear and Tortoise argued a bit about exactly what they wanted to do for the next couple of days, they finally decided to hike another five miles and camp it in a gap. We said our goodbyes to them, and I was disappointed they didn't stick around to hike with us more, because the past couple of days were real fun. I assured them I would catch up with them later on the trail, and they left.Pondwater, Snickers, and 365 showed up to stay in the shelter, and a couple, names John and Lilly, came through. They were all out of food so Shanae and I gave them some of our spare energy bars so they could make it into Erwin. I had stuffing and tuna for dinner, and Shanae had a crab, mushroom, and friend rice dish. Bear had told Shanae her trail name should be Ball and Chain, and for some reason she accepted (I'll give this away - it won't stick). We relaxed in our sleeping bags and I even fell asleep for a bit, even though it was still daylight. I woke up and heated some water up for a nice peppermint soap face wash and spent the rest of the time while it got dark catching up on my journal. I spotted a mouse on Shanae's washcloth and she freaked out and wouldn't touch the washcloth, because she thought the mouse would jump down and attack her or something. She finally did pull it off the beam and it dropped down the crack to the bottom bunk. Casey Jones got in after a little while, and its 11PM and I'm going to bed. Night!