Date: 2013-05-23
From: Top of Brush Mtn

To: Mile before Hwy 311
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

17 milesI awoke this morning to what I call "Fake rain." When you are in a tent & hear sounds of rain dripping from the trees, it's easy to think it's still raining ... & stay put. I figured it out pretty quick today but still didn't get moving very fast. Sometime I take my tarp tent down & assemble my pack on the ground cloth -- it's easier to work in the open. I'm glad I didn't do that today because the rain did start again, tho only for about 15 minutes; so it didn't delay me much. Home Brew & Lady were the first to pass me, then Munster Cheese (from Germany) & Jacko (Australia). I hadn't met any of them before.As I continued along Brush Mtn, I came almost immediately to a better campsite (That's the way it goes sometimes!) & then to the Audie Murphy monument -- the World War II hero turned movie star died in a plane crash on this Mtn.Although I came to some stands of Sugar Maple in the afternoon, most of the woods today was oak & hickory (Mockernut, not Shagbark). In addition to pin oaks & black oaks, I'm also seeing post oaks ( I think that's the kind with sort of cross-shaped leaves) & some other kind of Southern oak [Blackjack Oak, perhaps?] that has leaves with no clear lobes & very little indentation, just enough indicia of oakiness to identify them as oaks. I saw some pointed acorns I hadn't seen before. There was another kind of unlobed oak leaf -- I don't know the difference between Chestnut Oals & Chinquapin Oaks. And of course there were the Swamp White Oaks, omnipresent on dry hillside thru-out the Appalachians (Do they also really grow in swamps?).The Rhododendrons & Mtn Laurel were begining to flower now. I also saw Moccasin flower (lady's slipper), Tulip tree flowers, pink pinks, & the magenta mystery flower again.Hikers I saw included Just John, Zip, Dinner Party (spices), Whole Bean, UV, Maizie (dog).The attraction of the day: Dragon's Tooth, after which Monster Cheese & I came down the Mtn with slack packers: Tags, Mother Theresa, & Jet Lag. They were going slower than we were on the rocks ¢ made me wonder what good slack-packing is supposed to do. They were staying [again] at a hostel at the next road.Instead of going with them, I took a detour to the Catawba grocery for cheese burger, chips, & pop. I got a ride back to the trail from a trail-maintainer. I wasn't going to make it to the next shelter, so I started looking for a place the camp. Similarly to last night, I was searching for flat spots on ridges. At one point, I decided to stop to cook supper. I just got it done when a strong, cold wind started, followed by thunder & heavy rain. Fortunately, I had everything packed, so I quickly put on my poncho, grabbed my cooking pot, & headed for a lower spot down the lee side of the ridge. That gave me some protection, so there I was, standing in the rain, with pack & poncho on, eating my supper! By the time I finished, wind & rain had calmed down somewhat & the thunder sounded very distant (I never did see any lightning); so I got back on the Trail, still looking for a campsite. I could hear a road coming up, tho I didn't know how far, so I finally found a spot about 100 feet from Whole Bean, UV, & Maizie.   As it got cooler, the sun came out for a few minutes, but no more rain.