Date: 2015-05-08
From: Wilbur Road Stealth campsite

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up at 4 am for a bathroom break and it was very foggy at the campsite. The skies and the trees dripped all night long, and Light Bulb was snoring up a storm. I was just about out of water so I didn't do breakfast, opting to wait until I had a chance to filter some more water. I packed up and it was an immediate climb up the ridge in heavy fog, making the forest look almost primordial. As I climbed higher the sun started shining through the fog, and then eventually I climbed out into blue skies and bright sunshine. Below me, a blanket of fog lay over the landscape. Across the valley, Pond Mountain was now visible, rising up through the fog. I don't know the proper name of the ridge we would be walking on all day, but I dubbed it the Great Ridge of the Watauga.As I was taking pictures from a vantage point, Queen Bee and BB came up the hill and we caught up for awhile. As we were taking off to climb some more, Prime Time, Night Hawk, and Houdini Dog showed up. We continued to follow the ridge until it dipped down to the one water source indicated on the map, a little trickle of a spring. Queen Bee and BB opted to go on to the shelter, but I was totally out of water so I made the best of the little spring. I spread all my wet stuff on the hillside to dry in the sun while I filtered water, and then had an early lunch. Prime Time, Night Hawk, and Houdini Dog then showed up, and they did the same trying to dry stuff out and filter water.All afternoon we followed the Great Ridge of the Watauga, with views of Lake Watauga below through the trees. I couldn't help but think that if the Forest Service would turn this stretch of trail over to the Disney company they would do a much nicer job of carving out some idealic views and keeping the PUDS (pointless ups and downs) to a minimum. As it was the trail kept dipping down and back up, and once back on the ridge trees would be blocking the best views of the lake and the valley below.As the afternoon wore on, the heat was making me very weary and I was just dragging. I definitely was missing my Vitamins, and finally took a break to eat and regain some energy. It seemed no sooner than I started walking again, then the skies clouded up and took on a menacing look. It started raining, then hailing, and thunder and lightning started once again. I continued to walk and was getting soaked but there was no avoiding it. The trail turned into a river and I squished my way through. After about 30 minutes the rain stopped and then just a short walk further down the trail, the ground was dry and it looked as if it hadn't rained in a week. Despite being wet, the rain had cooled the air and I had a lot more energy to walk. I finally made Iron Mountain Shelter and it was packed with hikers. It hadn't rained at all at the shelter site and only some of the hikers arriving when I did had hit the storm. Prime Time, Night Hawk and Houdini Dog were already there, as well as Light Bulb, Prefontaine, and a number of other hikers. The day's hike had really exhausted me. I set up my tent, stumbled around making dinner, and then crawled into my tent. A few minutes later it started to rain, and I fell asleep instantly to the sound of raindrops on my tent.