Date: 2015-04-12
From: Davis Path campsite

To: Chestnut Knob shelter
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: clear sky

Last night I slept fairly well, compared to how I usually sleep in my tent. The ground was a lot less flat than I originally thought, so I woke a few times having slid right to the very side of the tent. I ended up getting out of my tent around 7am, to see Brightside was also awake. Usually she doesn't move until later. I left camp about 8am. I passed the section hiker Thankful, and for a while I was in the lead. Unfortunately this meant I was walking through hundreds of spider webs. Luckily, Stealth passed me quickly and got to have fun with the spiders instead.Today was another of those chilly starts and then boiling hot days. I actually had to finally properly convert my trousers instead of just cinching them below the knee. For a while, the sun was hidden behind a thin layer of clouds- so it was warm and sunny but not burning. By lunchtime it was another story. The rumours about Virginia were proved true today. The trail does go through a lot of farmland here. There were a couple of times when I was in a field with a bunch of cows. It was a little strange and eerie to be stared at so much. Brightside and I stopped at the next shelter for lunch, where we met Cookie Monster and Happy Feet. Brightside has so much food that she has to keep some of it in her clothes bag. She gave me some tuna, since she hates it now. (For any hikers- the white albacore tuna is not as good as the tuna that comes in sunflower oil. It has much less calories, though it has more substance.) She also hates cream of wheat, and has grown disillusioned with poptarts. My brunch bars are boring these days, and I still can't touch plain peanut butter. Again, today I had to repeatedly dip my bandana in streams and wear it under my hat. It dried super fast, but at least still protected my ears and neck. Though I did look completely ridiculous. At one point I came to a river and found Brightside stripping off to go swimming. Nearby, Chef was retrieving 2 decently sized fish that he had caught. In seconds, he had gutted them and cut them up. He later cooked them over the fire with some spices. Brightside didn't go swimming for very long. The water was very cold. I rinsed my extra pair of socks. There were another 3 hours to go after that. There was a short section of flat, crossing a bunch of streams and walking through a little forest. But then the trail did a big climb up, which was intense with the heat. Eventually I walked up the last couple miles, which were mostly through hilly fields. I turned a corner and was surprised to see everyone sat in one of the fields, in front of a big shelter. The shelter here is quite special, because it is a real building with 4 sides, a door, and windows. It's the kind of shelter that I dream about on cold and wet days. It's the kind of shelter that everyone in the Smokies wishes there was. Tonight however, there are only 3 out of the big group of us who will be staying in the shelter, though we will definitely be joined by mice. Everyone else is staying outside in the field and cowboy camping. Bandit asked why I am not cowboy camping. I told him that it's because I already got attacked by bugs enough today (which is true). It's also because it's very windy and chilly outside, and even on extremely warm days I would prefer to have a barrier between myself and the outside world.The shelters are all awkwardly placed here. The next one is 10 miles, but then it's a further 15.6 miles to the next one. There is only one campsite in between. So, I think tomorrow we have to hike nearly 26 miles. Fortunately the trail mostly follows a ridgeline I think, which means a lot less big climbs, which in turn usually makes it easier to do longer mileage. Either way, I'll have to get up and out early so time for an early night.