Date: 2005-04-16
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap 
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: clear sky

Miles hiked today : 22.7I woke up this morning at 8:35 a.m. and was on the trail at 9:10 a.m. Less than two minutes later, I stumbled on a downhill step and before I knew it, I was face first in a pile of leaves. Cha-ching, fall #10. The amusing thing was, I landed on my arm and my trekking pole and the weight of my pack made it difficult to get up. I felt like a turtle on its back, though after a couple attempts, I successfully righted myself and continued on.I had anticipated water at the 4.1 mile mark this morning and carefully rationed the 0.5 liter of water that I had remaining. Well, that water source was not present, so I had to wait until the 6.6 mile mark, just before Iron Mountain Shelter. I reached the water source and filtered and drank for close to 25 minutes, before hiking an additional 0.2 miles to reach Iron Mountain Shelter at 12:45 p.m.At 1:15 p.m., I reached the Nick Grindstaff monument, which actually looks more like a burial plot covered in cement with a huge 4 foot tall grave marker. The epitaph on the monument read, "He lived alone, he suffered alone, and he died alone." Very sad indeed.Continuing on, I took a 15 minute break at 2:00 p.m. and reached a logging road before TN 91 a 2:30 p.m. About 15 minutes later, I came to TN 91 to find Vapor and two of his friends, Tinka and Mark, from Greenville, SC. They came up for the weekend to do an overnight hike to the shelter 3.0 miles up the trail.I hiked with them through a beautiful meadow immediately after the TN 91 crossing, though as soon as the big hills started, Vapor and Tinka were soon out of sight and Mark was somewhere behind me. I arrived at Double Springs Shelter at 3:40 p.m., which was more than an hour earlier than I'd anticipated. I stayed for a 30 minute snack break, during which Tinka gave me a toblerone bar. Yum! Apparently he'd packed in several for any thru-hikers that he'd encounter.I pushed on at 4:10 p.m., covering the 3.5 miles to Low Gap in 1 hour 25 minutes. I took a 5 minute break before continuing and reached McQueen's Knob at 7:15 p.m. Just after McQueen's Knob is an antiquated shelter that looks barely big enough to sleep two people. I don't know the name of this shelter, as it isn't in my data book, though somebody kindly etched "Holiday Inn" above the doorway. There was even a register with what appeared to be a stolen pen, as there was a chain still attached. The markings on the pen read "Property of U.S. Government."It was only another 1.5 miles from McQueen's Knob to Abingdon Gap Shelter and I arrived at 7:45 p.m. Climbing up the final hill, I saw a large bird, similar in appearance to a pea hen, running away. Besides a pair of Southbound section hikers camped up the hill, I'm the only one here. My legs were very tired after such a long day, though I needed to get water. Conveniently enough, the water source was an 180 foot descent down a steep hill. After filtering 3.0 liters and climbing back up the hill, it was 8:05 p.m. I cooked my dinner and let it simmer while I set up my sleeping gear in the shelter and began to journal. Once my dinner was ready, I ate while wrapping up this entry.I'm only 6.5 miles from the TN/VA border and Damascus is 10.0 miles away. There is a pizza and sub shop in town that has a calzone with my name on it.Bedtime at 10:00 p.m.