Date: 2010-05-19
From: Pine Swamp Branch Shelter

To: Laurel Creek Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: overcast clouds

 Didn't sleep well. A little restless and not that tired. Had to stop for the pain in my knee but I could have kept walking. Shelter floor to short for 6 ft tall people. Slept with my head almost off the edge and my feet towards the wall. Bad idea, but it stunk in the corner. Wanted air. Had to curl my legs up in this position. Flipped around with my feet hanging off the edge and slept so much better. Actually, just a little better. Finished off the cherry granola! Tough hiking uphill while favoring a bum knee. Really steep section to Bailey Gap Shelter. Seemed understated in the profile map. Marty McFly still there drying out his tent. Met Blue Jay (multiple thru-hiker)who was going south. He's from Vermont. He's wearing a kilt. He tells me all the weird places he's slept on the trail. The best one was with donkeys in a stable. Once he slept under bleachers at a football field. Awesome bridge at Stony Creek. Handrails 3 inches thick! Huge! Saw lots of centipedes! Today must have been centipede crossing day. Lots of slippery rocks. Flat rocks, especially the big ones, are DANGEROUS! Anything at 45 degrees is deadly in pre-rainy conditions. Almost fell several times with my arms pointed at the ground. It'd be easy to break a wrist or arm if you fell. I'm curious to see Pennsylvania if this isn't the rockiest part of the AT. Decent views at Wind Roch. Amazing amounts of untainted land stretching for miles. Pretty yellow maple leaves frame the vista like a portrait. Signs here are unreliable. Mileage off by huge increments. It was definitely wrong about how far it was to War Spur. Ate lunch by a cool spring while watching chipmunks taunt my inability to take their picture. Munching on apples and a blueberry bar! Must have seen 4 chipmunks today and not a single picture. Passed Mike and Laura today on the climb up Kelly Knob. Found the name of the white and pink flowers that look like satellites and form a 5-point star when fully open. They're Mountain Laurel. They're everywhere today! The bright orange flowers are Azaleas. Lish thinks they look tropical. Jibbits has been sick for 48 hrs. She told me that she had her first solid poop in days today. I didn't want to know. Left War Spur shelter before my Ibuprofen wore off. Feeling okay uphill. Downhills are a different story right now. Getting better I think. The 3 log bridge over that creek was slippery like soap on a wet floor. I crawled across it! I was spinning my wheels the whole time even though I was on my hands and knees. Well, just knee. Couldn't believe it when people said they actually walked across it. 3,500 ft climb in 3 miles made me sweat! Felt great, though. Still burning trail days food off. Kelly Knob's name is fitting. That rocky road climb looked just like it back in NC. Glad when it flattened out. Had to stop and catch my breath once. Nice view from Kelly Vista. To get to it, you had to leap over a sketchy rock outcrop with a ravine 100 ft below. Nothing to grab on to unless you count the rotting tree tempting you to rely on it's shaky roots. Never would I have done that before this experience. Fear for heights are almost gone now! I stand on ledges now without hesitation. I kept wondering when the trail was going to drop 1000 ft. in elevation. Flat and then BANG! Knee-pounding, slip-sliding downhill off Kelly Knob. Weather nice, cool crisp air. Thought it'd be raining with menacing clouds. Heads Up ate tuna, Parmesan cheese, potatoes, pasta, and honey for dinner. Nasty!