Date: 2018-11-20
From: Forest service road 293

To: Dennis Cove Rd
Miles today: 11.9

We slept in a bit since we were monitoring the weather and had only a shy 12 miles to hike today. I slept well waking to take another dose of NyQuil a little after midnight. I hope this cold exits my body soon. I packed up the sandwich I made last night and the "tippy cow" shot Lee bought me. With my bag ready Lee made us bagels and cream cheese and scrambled eggs. I'm feeling very spoiled but she likes cooking for us, running errands and shuttling us. I gave her some money and a small list of items I'd need soon and she drove us to the trail. The goal was for her to avoid the stores the day before Thanksgiving until after Black Friday. Just before the trailhead this morning off a forest service road a barking dog chased the car startling all of us. We then reached a cattle grate and Lee stopped to let us out. The trail was .2 down the road but we weren't sure if she'd be able to turn around down there so we'd walk it. After gathering our packs and trekking poles from the back we said goodbye to Lee and walked in front of the truck to be immediately chased by a pit bull. A back biting one, meaning that when we faced the dog it backed away but as we turned and walked away from it the dog advanced towards us barking and snarling. I would absolutely use my poles to defend myself if needed. But WE is a former dog trainer and quickly assessed this one. I blew my jet scream whistle and the dog turned away and didn't resume his obviously planned attack. A moment later a pickup truck drove past us and dropped 3 hikers off at the trail. We said hello to everyone before we headed north and they headed south. I passed by a nice little falls not far into the hike but the trees obscured the view of it enough to make it difficult to get a full photo. I did see any other hikers on this section of the trail today. It was about 39° when we started at 8:30 but that was the high for the day. As we climbed up about 1,000' the breeze picked up and the temperature dropped. When we reached Moreland Gap shelter we made hot chocolate and I ate my apple. We had little bottles of "Tippy Cow" that Lee bought us to add to the cocoa and it was delicious! I'm still struggling with this cold though and in one of my not so wonderful moments I had to sneeze with my mouth full of apple. At this point we all know I had 2 choices...try to control the sneeze and end up trying to get the apple out of my sinuses for the rest of the day....or turn away and give up the control, which I did. The apple pieces flew from my mouth and to my horror a bunch of snot from my nose! At least I could laugh about it and WE did too. After all I just learned how to do a snot rocket and now I know a new technique. It's not glamorous I know but its real life out here. I was so chilly that I fished my puffy out of my backpack for the first time since I've been back. I wore it the rest of the day unzipped while climbing and zipped when I cooled off on descents. I didn't stop to eat my sandwich but did snack while I walked. Just before I reached the rotting cabin I met a hunter with a dog. The dog had a bell and I stopped and talked to him for a minute and then we walked and talked. It's grouse and woodcock season and his dog wears a bird bell. He was curious about what we eat and if dehydrating my own meals really works so I offered my experience. When he reached a side trail he and his dog headed off and I was less than a half mile to the parking area where Lee was waiting. WE was already in the car so I dropped my pack in the back and selected a root beer from the drinks Lee brought us and enjoyed it with my sandwich on the ride back. WE and I worked on our mileage and schedule at the table and then I went to the bathhouse for my shower. I'm going to miss these showers when we move the camper in a few days. I know we won't have such a nice bathhouse again. I had a salad with chicken and a can of Spaghettios for my dinner and then talked to my sister Catie in GA to let her know my ETA on Springer. I'm looking forward to seeing her and to summiting Springer even though it's not the end of my hike. I talked with Brian and the snow and cold temps are still prevailing in NH. Geez it's so early in the season still but it's already snowed 3 days. Romeo had taken to sleeping with me. He's going to hike a short 6 miles with us on Thanksgiving day. I've never seen a hiking chihuahua so I'm looking forward to it.