Date: 2012-04-19
From: Mountain Harbor Hostel & BB

To: Dennis Cove Rd.
Miles today: 24.4

I drove SOS and Runner to their start site about .4 of a mile from the hostel. Then I had about 5 hours to kill before I could check in to our next ¢home¢ for two days. Flat Stanley stayed with me today because Rog is hiking 24+ miles today and we were afraid Flat S. would get too tired (and smashed) since he is an inexperienced hiker. So he and I drove to the Roan Mountain State Park (about 4 miles) to eat our breakfast. I had filled my Hot Pot with water to heat while I drove to the SP. When I got there, I made myself 2 packets of homemade oatmeal (oatmeal, flax seed, cranberries and dried milk) and used my now hot water to make it. While I was at it, I used the rest of the hot water to rehydrate some dried apples. When all was ready, Flat S. and I got out of the car and sat on the stone wall beside the flowing stream. After eating and returning to the car, a truck pulled up beside me and rolled down the window. The man inside said, ¢Are you okay? I was supposed to check on you.¢ When I assured him that I was fine, he said,¢And I just want to tell you that God loves you.¢ I replied, ¢Yes, I know and he loves you too!¢ He said thanks and went on his way. A little while later I laughed outloud thinking of who might have sent him and how that conversation might have gone. I don¢t know for sure, of course, but I imagined something like this¢¦¢Hey, can you check on an old lady sitting on a stone wall by the stream at the State Park and eating oatmeal with a paper doll??¢ Good for a laugh first thing in the morning and good as a reminder of all the wonderful people we have met on this adventure who have gone out of their way to be helpful and kind. As we Methodists like to say¢¦God is Good..All the Time!I am in the McDonald¢s in Hampton, TN drinking a senior coffee and using their WIFI because I know that access up the mountain, where we will be for two days, is limited at best. Also it is very foggy this morning even down the mountain and I can¢t imagine driving on the dirt, uphill, winding, twisting narrow road (are you visualizing this?) so I am waiting until the fog lifts! I can now tell you that the men stopping in McDonald¢s this morning are outnumbering the women about 20 to 1¢¦hum¢¦what does that say??? (I have no idea¢¦just a thought running thru my head)The two young brothers (GQ and Maxis) from outside Chicago were at the hostel last night so we got to visit with them again. I took their picture on my phone and sent it to their parents who were worrying about them. They had run out of food on the trail but got to town and resupplied and cooked their own dinner¢¦2 huge hamburgers each with lettuce, cheese, fried onions, etc. plus a huge pan of cheese fries¢¦they ate it all! They went to call their parents and check on their resupply box that was supposed to be mailed to Elk Park (tiny town in NC about 3 miles from the hostel). When they came back, they didn¢t know whether to laugh or cry because the parents mailed the box to Elk Grove, IL!!!!...like they said..is that anywhere near the AT?? (It isn¢t and the rest of us laughed) and so did they¢¦eventually! Later...I did make it up the mountain after Edith Chloe (the GPS) totally failed me...she was so confused that I ended up on an uphill dead end which wasn't marked...turned around and found a nice man at the bottom of that hill who got me on the right path although Edith Chloe said 20 times...do a U-turn, if possible! ( I was talking back to her at this point!) Black Bear Resort (hostel) is a very nice remote place about .4 mile from the AT. It is run by a couple and their daughter/husband/3 small kids. They just opened it on March 7 so everything is new and nice. I checked into our room for the next two days and finished my book, finished a crocheted hat, worked on a pair of mittens I am knitting, and walked around exploring the grounds. SOS and Runner showed up at 5:30..an hour earlier than they thought and seemed none the worse for the wear and tear of 24.4 miles!!! I was going to cook but they wanted to go to town..down that winding road again. So after they showered (thank goodness), we started down the mountain but stopped at Kincora (another hostel) to see if Medicine Man wanted to go...he did...he hadn't showered...we rolled the windows down :-) It got worse...GQ and Maxis were at the end of the drive and wanted to go also so now we had 4 guys stuffed in the backseat and 3 of them were very ripe..whew...and they say if you think this is bad..wait until the summer heat plus smelly hikers!!!!! We drove to Elizabethton to a Mexican restaurant. When the waiter asked how many...I said THREE...so Runner, SOS and I were in one booth and the 3 smelly guys were in another at the back of the restaurant! After eating, we stopped at Food City so the guys could resupply and then began the trip back up the mountain...this time in the DARK...what fun..NOT! We made it back. SOS and I watched part of a movie and went to bed!If you would like to see more of our pictures, go to PHOTOS on the left side of the journal and there are more. This site only lets you put one picture with each story.