Date: 2018-06-06
From: Tentsite 604.8

To: Tentsite 620
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: few clouds

Another rough night for sleeping. I really did something to my back when I was jogging the other day. I can feel a small lump at my surgical site, and it hurts to touch it. I took Ibuprofen again without much relief. It seems I do fine when I¢m up hiking, but the minute I lay down it starts shooting pain mostly to my leg, but sometimes I feel it clear to my ankle. My I.T. bands are super tight too.  I spent about 2 hours massaging my own leg trying to fall asleep. During my massage I heard a dog barking. Then I heard another dog barking from what seemed like the other side of the mountain. Soon they were howling, and it dawned on me that these are Coyotes! Other than that I saw no amazing wildlife through my screen.  I woke up feeling fairly well rested. Had a pop tart for breakfast and packed up. I was ready to hit the trail by 7:30 this morning. It turns out there was a grocery store in 5 miles. The word on the trail is that they also serve hot food and other hiker delights.  I took off first. The terrain was nice with rolling hills and soft pine needles. After about 4.5 miles I came upon a clearing. The sun just popped out and right there in front of me was a magnificent Mountain View.  There was a light breeze all day and at times it would bring the fragrance of mountain flowers with it. I got one of those nice breezes while enjoying the view.  Just about a quarter of a mile further was a suspension bridge.  It was fun and a little scary to cross. I was careful not to make it sway too much.  Right after the bridge I came to a road. This is the road to Trent¢s Grocery Store. That is when I learned Trent¢s is 0.5 miles off trail. Guthook¢s app made it appear as though it were right on Trail. Hmmm...dilemma. The tramily had all agreed to meet there so I went.  I¢m glad I did!  It was the cutest little store that served up hot food too. I had a slice of pizza, 2 diet Dr Peppers, and an ice cream sandwich!  Hugs and Big Kahuna arrived before I started eating.  We all filled our bellies and hiked the 0.5 miles back to the trail feeling happy!  I started out in front again. When I came to the next blue blaze I just waited there for the other two. This blaze went to a waterfall it was 0.3 miles off trail. All of these things add up when lugging a 32lb pack. In the end we all decided to go see Dismal Falls. Before we reached the falls we could hear laughter. It sounded like a party!  Dismal Falls was a great little swimming hole. The water was ice cold, but Big Kahuna rode the falls down and took a dip. Hugs and I stayed on the rocks soaking our feet and knees. It was a lot of fun! Today¢s photo is of other hikers down at the swimming hole. The coolest thing happened there. A beautiful butterfly landed on Big Kahuna¢s foot and wouldn¢t leave. Eventually he scooped it up with his index finger and it just sat there. He blew on it gently until it finally flew away.  The next few miles of our hike were a little on the rocky side. I had to be careful where I planted my feet. The soft breeze was still blowing though. That was especially nice when I passed a small pine forest.  That breeze makes every rock worth it. Hugs had taken the lead in a section with lots of rhododendrons. She stopped short when she came upon a deer standing right there halfway on the path. I was able to get a good view before she trotted off into the rhododendrons. Another doe. I¢m beginning to wonder why we¢re only seeing Doe¢s. There¢s got to be a buck somewhere! The excitement from seeing a deer re-energized us for the remainder of our hike. We knew we had one last big climb before we would reach our tent site. In preparation for a big climb we usually camel up, and eat a little something sweet. There were two water sources on our way to the top. We chose to go to the second one so we would haul our water the least distance. Water is heavy!  We ate a candy bar and started up.  There was a couple of hikers sitting by the first water source. It was a little creek with a nice wooden footbridge over it. The water was inviting, but we hurried past them because we knew tent sites were limited up there. We wanted to get there ahead of them. We trudged on to water source #2. It was down to a trickle but we had to make it work. This would be our only water for many miles.  Collecting trickles of water takes forever. Of course the other two hikers passed right by us. It was getting late by now. Two blue blazes really ate up our time, and this UP was kicking our butts! It was only 3,917ft elevation, but was nearly straight up. There were still lots of rocks too. My feet actually hurt from all the rocks.  By the time we summited we were all exhausted. All 3 of us put up our tents in silence. I decided to cook because I ate cold food last night. It was a Mountain House meal of Italian Pepper Steak.  Quite tasty! I shared with Hugs and Big Kahuna.  We all retreated to our tents to recover from the day. Tomorrow will be another big one.  Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?