Date: 2009-04-14
From: Watauga Dam Road

To: US 321
Miles today: 4.2

Yee ha! Bugsy and Burly Girl are finally back on the trail!! The weather is not perfect, but that's OK. Yesterday we reached Elizabethton, TN, got our rental car, and did a 4.2 mi hike from Watauga Dam Rd to US 321. As soon as we got on the trail it started to rain. Is this how 2009 is going to go? The trail was a little more up and down than the relief map showed. But that's probably because this was our first day!In good weather this would have been a beautiful hike. Unfortunately our visibility was down to about 100'. When we started across the Watauga Dam it was thundering. This had a dramatic impact on Burly Girl's pace! The views of the lake (what little we had) were great. The trail was well-graded without many roots or rocks. We passed a total of 11 thru hikers. I guess because of the rain, most of them continued without stopping to talk so we only got the names of a few. The first were Knuckles and Chuckles. The final one was Phoenix. We took a shot of him at Watauga Lake. 4/15/09Today is the 21st year anniversary of our first date. What a wonderful way to spend the day! Together...outside...hiking...on an adventure... Today's two hikes totalled 10.2 miles, still in the rain. We drove north on TN 91 and placed the first car on the intersection of Rt 91 and the peak of Cross Mt. Remember, we are doing the AT one weekend at a time, are not 21 years old, and have chosen the rental car/motel room route to completion!We continued north to Shady Valley and went west on Rt 421 to a good-sized parking lot at Low Gap. This hike was also N to S. The elevation gain/loss was equal both ways, but by going south we got to meet more thru hikers and we only had to do one car move to do the next hike.From Low Gap to the peak of Holsten Mt we had an elevation gain of about 800'. There were a lot of ups and downs along the way, and it felt like more because it was only our second day of hiking.We saw one NOBO in the early morning. He was in a hurry so we didn't get his name. We stopped at the Double Springs Shelter, had a snack, and wrote in the trailbook. Most of the hike was along the narrow ridge of Holsten Mt.Shortly thereafter we met CatchUp from PA. His friend, Sawman, was not far behind. Then we met up with Crispy. His accent hinted at Australia. He was headed into Damascus...amazing because he stayed last night at Watauga Shelter and this would be close to a 40 mile day! A little while later, we met Knuckles and Chuckles again (from yesterday). They too were going from Watauga Shelter to Damascus today. The last 1.5 mi of the hike were through farmers' fields with the grass well-trimmed. This truly would have been great views on a nicer day. There was a park bench out in the middle of the field...we posed...we went on...To start our second hike of the day we drove from Rt 91 to Shady Valley north on 133 and up McQueens Gap Rd. McQueens Gap Rd is a dirt road that is 3 mi long that seems like 10 mi as it winds around the mt on hairpin turns. The hike was again north to south with most of the elevation gain in the beginning of the hike. It was rolling, well-graded, and once again on the ridge of the mt.   A light rain continued through the afternoon. We again ran into Sawman and Catchup, then Crispy, and finally Knuckles and Chuckles. We had all of them confused wondering if they were heading the wrong way when they saw us.Knuckles (or Chuckles) it turns out, is from Haddon Twp, NJ. We had earlier signed the trail registry as Bugsy and Burly Girl from Mt. Laurel, NJ and they had read that entry. What a small world!At 3:00pm and 14 miles to go, Knuckles and Chuckles still were determined to make it to Damascus by 8pm. See what a cold, rainy day can do to you?? But they were in great spirits...oh to be 21 again! We will see you guys up in Maine in September.Happy trails to all...Bugsy and Burly Girl...doing the AT one weekend at a time...