Date: 2016-11-02
From: Wayah Bald Shelter

To: Campsite at mile 128.0
Miles today: 7.2

Had trouble sleeping last night. The small animals, probably chipmunks, squirrels, etc. were running all night. With so many leaves on the ground they make a lot of noise. Finally took a sleeping pill around midnite and slept for 5 hrs. Woke around 5am and was cold and put on another layer of clothes and went back to sleep. Didn't get up and on the trail until 10:30. Met 8-10 SOBO thru hikers (I've found the SOBO hiker bubble). They are excited because they will finish their thru hike in 7-8 days. I congratulate each and every one of them I meet. They will have walked 1,280 miles and completed their dream in just about a week!!!Arrived at Cold Spring Shelter for lunch and as I walked in I saw a familiar face and said "I've met you before". She didn't remember me and we never figured out where we'd met on the trail before. Her name was Troothpick and I think we met in VT. I'll have to ask Yvonne if she remembers.Today's mileage in the guidebook doesn't look too bad but it was a hard day for me. Up or down all day, no flat stretches. The topics on the trail are: where is there water? and do you know anything about the fire? We exchange decent water locations and no one has any info about the fire. 2 SOBOs told me about a campsite, it isn't in the guidebook, but is exactly what I needed . . . the first shelter was at 4.8 miles but the next was 10.8 and this campsite is between them, and it's supposed to have water. Water has become very scarce and everyone is concerned about the next water source.I find the campsite and it does have water, though not running very well but enough to work. However, there's is no level ground here. So I pick the most level spot (it only has about a 5-10 degree slant) and pitch my tent. I moved the tent after I'd completely unpacked and put all my stuff inside, but I'm still not happy with the slant. It's on the most level spot though. It's posted that campfires are not allowed, but nothing is mentioned about backpack stoves, so I start to cook dinner (just boiling water to add to dehydrated food). I sit right next to the stove and don't take my eyes off it until the water boils and I've turned off the flame. I'd hate to be the one to start another fire. I stand up to get something and turn over the water and have to start all over. I'm glad my stove is fast and I have dinner without incident.Several hikers walk by with headlamps on and I'm half hoping one will stop and camp with me, but no luck. All is quiet and I'm looking forward to a quiet nite. As soon as I get in the tent and into my sleeping bag I realize the slant is going to be a big problem. I keep getting tangled up as my sleeping pad and bag start sliding toward the side of the tent. Finally I take the pad out of the pocket under my sleeping bag and put the bag on top. Then I sleep on the highest side of the pad (1/2 on and 1/2 off) to counter the sliding. It works fairly well. With that solved, the animals start to run . . . and one of them is right next to my tent and won't go away. It sounds like he's licking something and when I get out to check, nothing is there. Of course, by the time I get out of the tent, I've had to unzip 2 zippers and make a lot of noise. He's out there for several hours and I never could figure out what it was . . . don't think it's a mouse, I'm guessing a deer. But I haven't seen any deer the whole time I've been out, so who knows. This is when you need another hiker to see what is there. Another less than restful night!!