Date: 2014-05-05
From: Roan Mtn, TN.

To: Mountaineer shelter
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Tennessee has, so far, been my favorite section of trail. It's funny, I had this preconceived notion about Tennessee, which included things like Dollywood, and Gatlinburg, and guys with shotgun racks in their trucks. Certainly, Tennessee has these exciting things, but I was astounded by how beautiful Tennessee is, particularly while in the mountains. Maybe one of the most striking things about Tennessee that I've noticed is the wide open spaces. After many weeks of hiking in the woods, I find it refreshing to hike in open clearings, framed by deep green grass and spruce trees. And let's not forget the waterfalls.The group plan today was to push some miles, and the agenda today was to reach a campsite near a waterfall, about 14 miles from our present location. I did manage to snag a ride into Roan Mtn, TN., for a "light resupply," which turned out to be a heavy resupply. Not so much in terms of quantity of the resupply, rather more literally; I left Roan Mtn shouldering 40+ pounds of pack weight. Ugh. The first part of the trail today was wide open spaces, and uphill hiking. To add to the misery of a very heavy backpack, it was hot outside today. I think the heat baked my brain a bit today, because I willingly explored several jeep trails just to see where they went! I'd hike maybe a half a mile down a side trail, and if I didn't see something interesting in that block of time, I'd turn around and get back on the AT. I did see a cool cemetery, if cemetery's can be classified as cool. Isaacs Cemetery looked like a nice place to be planted, surrounded by greenery and mountains. I posted a picture for your viewing pleasure. And did I mention all the sweet waterfalls in Tennessee? The first one I saw was Jones Fall, and I probably would've walked right past it, except someone had spelled out (with sticks) the words "go see" with an arrow pointing in the direction of the falls. I could hear the falls from miles away, but until it was physically spelled out on the trail, I had no clue where it was. I got a good picture of Jones Falls, and soaked my feet in a pool of ice cold water at the base of the falls. Excellent. After eating lunch at Jones Falls, I threw the pack back on without much enthusiasm about completing 8 more miles. About 5 miles in, I took the pack off for a break, and noticed Meticulous coming down the trail from behind me. I hadn't seen Tic since earlier that day, and I was puzzled about how she was behind me now. When I asked, she admitted to going down a trail (not the AT) and hiking 0.6 before realizing she'd lost the trail. She also told me she probably wasn't going to make the mileage goal today, which l was relieved to hear; I wasn't going to make it either. Point of interest: there are many side trails, and jeep trails on this section of the AT. I didn't see any identifying markers for any of these, and they lead to who knows where. Today being May 5, I had moms dehydrated tacos for dinner. They were very good, and would've been better if I'd had more patience in letting the ground beef rehydrate a bit longer before eating. It's hard to do when I feel like I'm starving to death. At any rate, dinner made top grade, and was the envy of everyone at the shelter. I probably would've shared, but I ate it too fast. I did manage to get to bed early tonight, albeit in a crappy tent site, with a crappy pitch to the tent. None of that seemed to matter though, and I was snoring before I had my tent zipped shut.