Date: 2015-05-05
From: Dolls Flat Campsite

To: Stealth Camp North of USFS 293
Miles today: 17.0

Today we broke 400 miles (yay us!). And I discovered Cherokee's true super power. But the real story is the change in weather. All of a sudden it's summer.Last night was probably the warmest since the first week on the trail. I never put on my hat and I took off my long johns because I was too warm! So it wasn't too hard to get out of the sleeping bag this morning.Right away the hiking was warm, but not nasty sweaty warm, more of a 'it's going to be a really nice day today' warm. The first few miles were fairly easy and went fast but I didn't regret our decision to make camp early the day before one bit.Once we crossed road 19, we started climbing a bit. First through regular AT woods, but later through some meadow with wildflowers, which was a nice change. Nothing particularly earth shattering (nettles, buttercup, delphinium, clover and a few that I don't know the English common names or botanical names of) but a nice change all the same.There was a camp site on the Elk river about nine miles in that we had flagged as a potential lunch spot. When I got there, the trail down to the river was very steep and a bit sketchy looking, but it turned out it was so worth it! It was our best lunch spot yet. I soaked my feet while we ate crackers with tuna, it was lovely. When it was time to collect more water, I noticed a bunch of little snails in the water. So I called it 'eau d'escargot. Good thing I like escargots.Lunch was just a hair before the 400 mile mark, and I had just been caught by Yoda when we got there, so we were able to take each other's picture. And truthfully, 500 miles is only about a week away..Cherokee and I were aiming for a hostel that allowed free tenting and had pizza and ice cream for sale. Stealthbomber and Cyborg were there as well, but they were planning on doing another 6 miles for a 22 mile day. Ah, to be 25 again... Cherokee had convinced Yoda to come as well and we selected three pints of Ben & Jerry's and two pizzas. We had to wait for the oven so ate the ice cream first and that, ladies and gentlemen, is Cherokee's true super power. The man had demolished his pint before I was even a third of the way in. Then, when I gave him half of what I had left, that disappeared in a nano second too. It's a gift, I'm telling you. The oven decided to break just as our pizzas were baking but we did get them in the end. And then the three of us (Yoda, Cherokee and I) decided that we might as well hike another couple of miles since there were no other enticing facilities at the hostel anyway. No bathrooms (just privies), no laundry so why not sleep in the woods. So that's what we did. It was actually really nice to hike at that hour (around 6) but we only went another couple of miles. It should also be noted that Cherokee, fueled by ice cream, led the pack! Now we have a little stealth camp with two tents and Yoda'a hammock, Camp Snugly II! I am typing this in my tent and it's another 'no hat or long johns' kind of night.Tomorrow we go to a resort to resupply (our food situation is a bit sad, though that does make for nice light packs, especially since we were able to get rid of our trash at the hostel) and then probably hike a bit after. The goal is still to be in Damascus by Saturday, but it would be nice if we don't have a 15 mile day on Saturday to get there.Open map in new windowWant to add a map to your journal?