Date: 2018-11-25
From: Wilbur Dam Rd

To: Dennis Cove Rd
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm glad we didn't hike yesterday in the wind and rain. Today was a beautiful day! WE had trouble getting motivated but once she was up she made us soft boiled eggs and toast for breakfast. She scooped the eggs out into bowls for each of us and then cut hers all up.....and added a healthy handful of Nestle chocolate morsels. Yes, she did that and I still shudder to think about it. She said her grandmother taught her that when she was young to get her to eat eggs and she just continued into adulthood.Lee drove us to the trail as usual. The temp was 42° and a great blue heron was walking across the road to the river as we headed to Wilbur Dam Rd to be dropped off. My favorite bird! It was a pretty drive. We hiked over a smallish climb, none of them feel really small, and eventually across Wilbur Dam. The lake looked pretty this morning and the sunlight seemed just right. I studied the spillway for a few minutes noting the roads within and how it would be fun to explore. We headed away from the dam and around the lake on a smooth trail with almost constant views of the lake. A small boat with fisherman was the only activity I noticed from a beautiful lakeside campsite before the trail turned and headed up. About 4.5 miles into the hike we took a .10 mile detour to Boots Off Hostel and got lucky enough to be picked up by a worker who rode us up the driveway in the bed of his pickup truck. Romeo had his first pickup bed ride since he was hiking with us today. We took a 20-30 minute break and bought soda since it was really too warm for hot cocoa and ate inside in a heated area. The hostel is very clean and nice, even the outdoor restroom. We got our passports stamped, signed the journal and decided we'd better get this 2.5 mile and 2,000' elevation climbing done while we are fueled up. We walked down the driveway we were very grateful to have ridden up and headed immediately up the mountain. I personally didn't find it all that bad because the day was just too beautiful for the hike. I even sweat a bit! We found a spot by a spring just after the summit and took a seat on a perfect log for dining. Romeo's appetite was insatiable and I've never seen a little dog eat so much. He devoured his meal of freeze dried dog food, a half sandwich and 2 rolls left over from the night before and he would have eaten more. While we were working on finishing our lunch Romeo whined and stomped because he wanted to keep hiking. He's a hiking junkie! We headed back out and down to Laurel Fork Falls and ran into 15-20 day hikers in total enjoying the falls. We took our photos from above them and opted not to hike all the way down because to our left was an elevation gain of about 500' accompanied by 300 stone steps. Oh goodie! We left ahead of and stayed ahead of the day hikers meeting several more and some with dogs and of course Romeo showed off his big dog macho attitude but made it through unscathed to the trailhead where Lee was waiting. I had a craving for ice cream on the hike out and Lee graciously agreed to drive us into town to Dairy Queen so we could satiate the craving. I indulged in a brownie sundae. Back at the camper we had chicken, potatoes and veggies for dinner and I watched TV on my phone until 9pm. Tomorrow is a day off and we're relocating to Bryson City NC where we'll be hiking from Fontana dam to Springer Mt.