Date: 2005-10-03
From: Hampton, TN

To: Rt. 19E, TN
Miles today: 23.8

23.8 miles todayKincora HostelHampton, Tn.Rt 19E, Tn on the trail I fell asleep last night while I was writing my journal. I woke up this morning at 5:30 and finished it and then sent it to Mrs Moosie to post. Yep, she's the same Mrs Moosie that's married to that soon to be famous gear guy Moosie of www.moosiegear.com I packed what I was going to need today, then Grey Fox, another hiker and myself headed out to breakfast. We drove to Roan, Tn and stopped at Bob's Dairy and had a very good breakfast. The biscuits were huge and delicious. I also had eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and gravy. Oh yeah, coffee too. :-))) Grey Fox dropped me off at Rt 19E at 9:25am and I started walking north back to Kincora today. Grey Fox has really been a big help these last few days. He is tireless and will help in any way he can. He's taking Tug Boat back to Boone today and then coming back tomorrow to do even more trail magic. Thanks again Grey Fox!! It took me an extra long time to kick it in gear today. I think I ate too much. :-))) The first part of the walk was through horse pastures. I headed up into the woods after about 30 minutes. It was in the upper 40s this morning at Kincora. It was already in the 60s by the time I started walking, but the sun was out and it was going to be another beautiful day. It was a 1000 foot climb up to an unnamed summit. Maybe I read my book wrong...maybe it really is Unnamed Summit. :-))) I started walking back down and before long walked by a cemetery, then a road and finally started getting into the forest again. I passed a guy by the name of Slowpoke and in a little while, passed by Dually. Both were headed north on section hikes. I walked down an old logging road that bordered the Elk River for a while. Beautiful river, but someone figured out a way to get a tire back here to throw it into the river. I kept walking until I got to Mountaineering Falls where I took about 20 minutes to eat a snack and super hydrate. I drank about 2 1/2 litres of water while I sat there and filled my water bottle before hiking on. All the new relo's in this area have really made this a pleasant piece of trail. It's easy on the feet and very well maintained. It just adds about 4+ miles to this section between Dennis Cove Rd and Rt 19E. I ended up passing 6 more northbound hikers...all doing sections of various lengths. One couple had a young yellow lab that they said scared up a bear today. I walked by the area that LWOP The Dewdrop added his piece of tretcherous trail work just down from the smooth piece of trail I built with Hardcore trail crew a couple years ago. On the side of the trail where LWOP The Dewdrop put that short step that trips up many hikers, I saw torn pieces of clothing, some dried blood on a root and the sole of a boot. The A.T. would do well to NOT let LWOP The Dewdrop help again and the trail will stay a safe place to spend a day. :-))) When I got to a gravel road, I sat down for a minute on a rock. I guess I was just traumatized by working my way around the mess LWOP The Dewdrop made. I gathered my senses and moved on. When I got to Moreland Gap Shelter, I signed the register and walked on. The steep down just to the south of the shelter is gone. There's new switchbacks there now and very easy walking. I continued climbing up to White Rocks Mountain before starting the descent of 1700 feet to Dennis Cove Rd. It was a pleasant walk today and tomorrow I'm walking over Hump Mountain. That's the only mountain on the A.T. that I've never had a view from and once even walked it in hurricane force winds with fog, but I hear the weather is supposed to cooperate tomorrow and maybe, just maybe the spell will be broken. Patagonius was here at Kincora when I got in today. Bob drove us down to Hampton to get some supplies. I cooked some hotdogs and beans for dinner and had a small bag of chips and a half gallon of chocolate milk. There are 4 other guys here that just finished a section hike today. I talked to Chef Paul for a while before I headed off for a shower. I promised to call Chief because he had Wednesday free and wanted something to do. I told him that I was starting MY vacation on wednesday and helping Bob split wood for winter and that I had volunteered him to hold the wedge while Bob and I took turns seeing how many times in a row we could hit the wedge with the mallot. Chief said he'd be glad to do that and that he trusted Bob and I completely. ;-))) One more walking day before I'm off trail for a week for The Gathering in Hanover, NH. Looking forward to seeing lots of friends there.