Date: 2014-05-03
From: flint mountain shelter

To: just outside Sams Gap
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

AT day 28 SaturdayThis morning we woke with the sun. That's at 630 am in the spot we slept, FYI. So it was a nice early start! We weren't discouraged though, as there was a rumor of impending trail magic at our road crossing today. Always a good reason to walk!I was extra excited because I finally got the chance to walk with Bamboo. He likes to talk while hiking which is a nice change for me! Kent and Jon don't talk much while actually hiking. But I love to! So Bamboo and I made great hiking buddies! The first three miles flew by! At our first road crossing the YWAM van took our trash, gave us some water and shared coffee with kent again! You'd have thought that would put him in a good mood, but when he was asked how he was doing, he replied, "why?". So friendly! On that note, Bamboo and I took off again and left Jon and Kent to hike with Unger Where. We walked and talked and I was a happy girl. Even up the uphills! We had eleven miles total to get to the road where the supposed trail magic was and we were motivated to get there ASAP. The day was perfect walking weather. It was cool and sunny! The terrain wasn't overly difficult but not super easy either. It was nice having solid conversation and the time flew by. When we got to the road, there were a bunch of people hanging out. And then we smelled a grill! Yes! It wasn't just a rumor! There wasn't a lot of food left when we got there, but it was still great to get to eat food we didn't have to carry! I made sure to grab a beer for each Jon and Kent as well as some treats for them and Unger since we there first and I didn't want them to miss out. The people running trail magic were from a Geocaching Club and they were nice enough to charge phones while we were there! We all layed around long after the food was gone and enjoyed hanging out in the grass with the sun shining and most of our miles done for the day. It was another really great day! Part of the fun out here is getting to meet new people and I personally love it! Today was even nicer because we got to find out more about some of the people we already know. We finally left to go find our camp for the night. We hadn't walked very far when we spotted a nice flat spot right off the trail that had a hidden spring near it. We love camping by water (it's nice to be able to wash hands, cook pots and do trail baths) so we called it a day. It's the first night in three days we actually got sort of level area to pitch our tents! I'm grateful for that since last night was interesting trying not to slide right out the door of my tent! We made a nice fire and ate our dinners around it. Aquaman and Tricks came by on their way to camp and it was nice seeing them. We also met another hiker named Seven (I think) who does documentaries about the AT. It's early now, but I'm ready horizontal as my legs are still site from all the big climbs. I'm hoping to get some good recovery before our 17 mile day tomorrow. Thanks again to everyone who comments on Facebook or trail journals. Keep 'em coming! And for those of you wanting addresses to send packages to, I may put them up tonight. Sorry it's taking so long!