Date: 2018-05-21
From: Dennis Cove Road 

To: Wilbur Dam Road 
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: clear sky

Our little tramily is back together! I¢m happy to announce that Hugs and Big Kahuna slack packed with me today. So we parked Big Kahuna¢s rental car at our destination then Papa Big Swig drove us to our start.  I had accidentally left my trekking poles there yesterday evening.  Some young kids who I think were thru-hikers had them. One kid said he was going to look for the owner. It was kind of funny because they were all folded up in his pack and someone had covered my silver duck tape with their black duck tape. Hmmmm a little fishy!  But the one kid did give them back, and we gave them all a soda. I hope they learned some kind of a lesson in that little exchange.  It was a bit of a cluster at the start with lots of people milling around. The Terrier family was there. It turns out they are part of that A.T. Section Hiker Club too. We did much better today since she knew I was not going to allow my dog near her. One of my favorite ladies from the group needed a ride to 19 so Papa Big Swig was her Trail Angel today. He said he enjoyed her company. She not only helps with the trail, but she¢s also a missionary in Peru 6 months out of the year. In order to stay ahead of the Terrier family myself, Seylor, Hugs, and Big Kahuna left out first to start chalking up the miles. The initial hike was nice and easy until we hit rocks going down to a blue blaze waterfall known as Laurel Fork Falls. It was a short blue blaze, and the falls were absolutely beautiful to behold.  On the way down we had passed Batman & Robin, the father/son duo from yesterday. They were so kind. Both of them stood completely still and looked away so Seylor would feel safe enough to pass.  She did pass without a problem. Eventually Batman & Robin made it to the waterfall with us. Batman took off his hat and slowly but surely was able to pet Seylor! I was so happy! That¢s a big step for Seylor! They are great guys!  So the climb up and out of the falls began.  Initially it was rocky and took us beside the river over rocks and boulders. We crossed that same river a few times. The sound of rushing water was nearby almost all day today. I love that! In total we climbed up about 1700ft over 3 miles. It was a nice slow climb once we got past the boulders. About half way up we stopped at a log for lunch. Griffin passed by as we were eating. He and I first met at Top of Georgia Hostel, then again at Davenport Gap when I came out of the Smokies. His wife has been helping him like Papa Big Swig helps me. It was a short chat as thunder was getting closer and rain drops started falling. I pulled out my fancy new rain gear, and we hiked on.  Seylor and I took the lead. The other two stopped for water so I got pretty far ahead  The rains grew stronger, and the trail turned to mud. Seylor and I summited our lunch mountain first and started down.  That¢s always the problem with rain...DOWN! I¢ll spare you the details and just say it was a very slow fall. I struggled to stay on my feet a long while before My body twisted around like a corkscrew on my trekking pole and landed me hands and knees in the mud.  I was wearing shorts today. It wasn¢t pretty at all.  Not long after that Hugs and Big Kahuna could both be seen coming down the trail. We stopped at the bottom of the mountain for me to clean up a bit. My new muddy rain gear was put back in my pack and onward we marched. Big Kahuna took the lead.  This is where life gets interesting! So much rain has caused some significant flood issues. This includes the area where we hiked today around Watauga Lake and near Wilbur Dam. The lake was obviously above flood level as there were several picnic tables and grills with only the tops being visible above water. We could see the flooded area to a footbridge. It was a little over ankle high maybe 12ft long. Our shoes were already wet from the rain so Big Kahuna took the first steps and we followed. I felt the cool water go over the top of my boots and rush in to surround my feet. Squishy boots aren¢t the end of the world, and cool feet felt a little nice. Us humans were laughing a bit and Seylor Jo was a tail wagging happy girl!  Big Kahuna continued to lead while Hugs and I pulled up the rear. We came to another area quite a bit bigger and about knee deep. Big Kahuna saw some baby ducks there. They swam away before the rest of us arrived, which is probably a good thing. I would not want Seylor to terrorize baby ducks.  Those ducks were the least of our worries though. The water was deep enough now that we could not see where to step. There was wooded debris floating all around. Big Kahuna took one for the team again. He found every rock, boulder, and hole so we could safely follow. I am extremely thankful he was with us today! Seylor did this one too, but she wasn¢t as sure about it...and she¢s our water dog.  So this pattern continued...bigger, deeper, and wider until we were waste deep literally hiking with the fish in their lake. Big Kahuna forged the way!  He found a board bridge about 4ft below water that I¢m sure was truly meant for foot travel. He said move slow and don¢t fall off. Pretty sure falling off would have meant a full on swim. I went second while Big Kahuna was still shuffling across the board so I could gauge my location. This was done completely on blind faith because I sure couldn¢t see a thing below the water and debris. Then Hugs was up.  She started making her way across when we all realized Seylor Jo wasn¢t having anything to do with this one. She would start in and turn back. Hugs, being the champ she is, went back and helped Seylor swim across.  Can you believe that? A dog needed help swimming? Hugs was Seylor¢s Trail Angel today.  I would like to say that one was the end, but no. We helped Seylor a few more times. It became comical.  At one point Seylor latched onto a log and we just floated her along on the log. In her defense the water was very deep and I¢m sure she couldn¢t tell how far the swims would be. Eventually the ground started getting higher as we worked our way up and out of the swampy bog. Seylor¢s tail was wagging and we were all pretty proud of ourselves for braving the challenge and not missing a single white blaze!  Big Kahuna is a good leader. We fell in place behind him at a good pace while Seylor made her own blue blazes ridding the world of chipmunks. She¢s still 0 for something like 4,365. (Ok I made up that number). Either way, she always comes back empty handed, but tail wagging.  We had maybe 2 miles to get to our destination. The rain had stopped. No rain is a good thing,but coming down out of that mountain was still tricky. A steep down that¢s muddy takes skill, and wet tree roots at an angle can be nearly impossible at times. That¢s what happened to Hugs. One step onto a wet sloped tree root, and down went McGinney. No hope for a save. It looked painful, but she got up brushed herself off and carried on. True to the thru!  We were getting close to the end of our hike when we came upon a clearing. It was a gap of sorts. None of us had seen a soul for hours. I let them move ahead so I could take a quick potty break. All of that water had my bladder about to bust! I really didn¢t go hide anywhere as there was nobody else for miles. Then from nowhere appeared a young man. Yep, caught with my pants down! That was our last giggle of the day. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018) Where¢s your faith?