Date: 2021-06-13
From: Niday Shelter 

To: Tentsite at MM 705.4
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: scattered clouds

June 13 - Niday Shelter to Tentsite at MM 705.4 - 17.6 miles (597.3 trip miles) - 46453 steps A few days ago I made a comment in an entry about a lot of trees being down and why weren¢t they cleared. I thought I was taking a jab at myself for not knowing why so many trees were down. A person commented on that day¢s entry that I was speaking negatively about trail maintainers. That was not in any way my intent. I went back and reread the entry and the person was totally correct in their interpretation of what was written. Thanks for calling me out on that. I have tweaked that entry to better reflect what I was thinking. On the topic of trail maintainers, thank you for all the hard work you do. Nothing but respect and awe for the efforts you put in to allow us to walk this great trail. All the thru, section and day hikers really do appreciate the work you do. I think most maintainers are unpaid volunteers who put in many hours to keep the trail in great condition. The trail for me this year has been immaculate. Few blowdowns, good tread. It really is amazing what they accomplish over rugged challenging terrain. Again thank you and sorry to any maintainers that read my post and were offended. As for today...I was up early, took care of chores, ate and headed out. The first few miles were gentle down to a forest road then gradual up. We made sure our water was topped off as it would be sparse today. We then began a long 1500 foot climb. It was graded well and the tread was excellent but the morning humidity was brutal. The sweat was flowing freely after a short ways up. It seemed to take forever but we reached the top where there was a well placed bench. There was cell coverage so we hung out for a while. Goob got us rooms in Daleville for Tuesday night. We continued on over mostly level terrain until we reached the short side trail to the Audie Murphy Monument. I know after yesterday¢s post you went and looked him up. For those that didn¢t, he was the most decorated soldier in WWII. His accomplishments are legendary. Unfortunately, he died in a plane crash near the monument site in 1971.From there it was 3.5 miles downhill to another road crossing. And by now you know what we do after road crossings. We go up. Right after we eat. This was a long grueling climb. It started off easy enough but seemed to go on forever. There were some rocky areas and rock scrambles. Eventually we got to a series of ledges and rock outcrops. The views were great to the valley below. Further on were more rock scrambles on up and down terrain. Then we steeply went up to get to today¢s primary goal, Dragon¢s Tooth. There is a short side trail down to this rock feature. It¢s impressive. Who knew dragons had such big teeth. There is a whole line of these tall monoliths. I thought about climbing up one for a picture but then remembered I still need to climb down. Goob and I had some snacks and started down. And what a down it was. Rocks of all kinds, shapes and sizes. Scrambling on your butt, going down on rebar, hand over hand, etc. it was fun but very tiring. We were both done but still had a few miles to go to get to the road. Near the road crossing there is a gas station convenience store so we went there for a minor resupply and a burger. It was good for a gas station. I also had a pint of ice cream and a Hershey¢s Bar. We decided we needed to go on another mile to a water source. We were empty. On the way I was able to check the weather and it looked bad. We got our water, quickly found a camp spot and set up. The thunder started shortly after and now it¢s raining. The skies did seem to brighten a bit so maybe the worst of it will miss us. Tomorrow we will get to McAfee Knob and Tinker Cliffs. We plan to go 15.5 tomorrow leaving us under 10 on Tuesday into Daleville. My back hurt off and on today. Bearable. My knee started hurting as well. Then, to top it off, my 2nd and 3rd toes on both feet on the bottoms are getting chafed. I think it is from being in wet shoes and socks for too many days. I hope to air them out well tonight. Perhaps I do need a day off. Until tomorrow.