Date: 2014-03-17
From: Dry place

To: Fontana Shelter
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 16, March 17, 2014I am currently at a laundromat doing laundry in my undergarments! As always, I can't make this stuff up!!!Neither Radioman nor I slept well. Not sure if it was the uneven ground (nothing worse than than that), the hunger (dinner did not satiate me), Cooper hogging the bed, or my throbbing toe. Since Radioman didn't sleep well it must have been the uneven ground. It was still raining this morning when we woke up. The hike to the Fontana Shelter took longer than anticipated due to poor trail conditions and not wanting to repeat of Radioman's Lone Survivor moves? About a mile from the shelter we see a sign that "Fresh Grounds" Leapfrog Cafe was up and running at the shelter. It made that last mile seem like an eternity. Poor Radioman was so excited to get there he could hardly contain himself. I told him the extra mile would just make the food more yummy. He said the food had already reached MAX yumminess When we got there we were treated to spaghetti with cheese and toasted bread. I don't know if Fresh Ground remembered us, but he did remember Coop. Hey Dorito!! We got Fresh Ground to pose with a bag of "oh h&ll DORITOS!!!"A young man was trying to sign the hiker log when Coop went over and stepped on it. Leaving a perfect muddy paw print. The hiker signed Coops name. I will try and remember to get a pic of it tomorrow. We are currently waiting for the Kennel folk to pick up Coop and also for a box of hiker food for the Smokies from Erika. As I do laundry Radioman is up caring for and drying out our drenched gear. He said I had a cup of water in the bottom of my pack!! Two side notes:We still think you should wear toes on your walking sticks. Today we saw many example of trail degradation causes by points. At one spot you could see where the trail was disintegrated and people had slid nearly three feet down the side of the hill. Two: we are still a little vexed by the whole NOC experience. We paid almost 50 bucks for a 10 x 10 hole. No linen-we had to sleep in our own dirty bags. A half mile walk up a hill. Community restroom and showers. Which was a three flight of stairs walk. For a few more bucks we are now resting in luxury in a room with a TV, linen, heat and air, soap, shampoo and conditioner. From now in we will always pay a few more bucks for the right stuff. If this makes us hiking snobs, so be it!! . Have a great day!!PS- BOTH Radioman and Cowgirl want to give a huge shoutout to ROCKY, a 2013 through hiker, for his help getting to the General store today!!! (Paul) - Ever wonder what we talk about while walking all day? One of our recent conversations was about the intelligence of dogs. Border Collies rate the highest while the Afghan is at the bottom. I told Delight that Coopers mother was an Afghan. He jumps over logs he could easily walk under, he has difficulty finding the entrance of the tent he just walked out, and generally does things that amuse the crap out of me. (Check out his video on De Light's FB page!)Today, I picked up a small wool shirt from a hiker box for Cooper to use as a blanket while he goes to Loving Kennels for the next week and for after the Smoky Mountains. Delight seems more traumatized about Cooper going to the kennel than he does. Radioman: I want to give a special thank you to Ruby's Lube from Sandpoint, ID! http://rubyslube.com/ After two weeks of hiking, I started chafing in places that you do not want chafed- or raw. I noticed a difference after one day and complete relief after two days. I will be ordering more of this product!Signed, Cowgirl, Radioman and The Little ManHiked today: 6.6Completed: 165.8Remaining: 2019.2