Date: 2016-02-26
From: Room in House on Lake Holston

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 9.4

I left my room at Lake Holston an hour later than planned. Next time I¢m going to get my pack ready ahead of time rather than doing it the morning I¢m leaving to go hiking. I skipped a local breakfast place called ¢The Store¢ and grabbed a couple of McDonald¢s egg n biscuits to help make up for my late start. On the way up to the trail I saw a hiker who was walking along the road in the cold so I stopped to give him a ride. It turns out that ¢Terry¢ wasn¢t hiking, he was homeless. I asked him if he was able to stay warm in the cold weather and he told me he did ok except it was harder to stay warm at night. It turns out that instead of a sleeping bag he used several blankets to keep the cold at bay. I thought about how tight I have to keep my bag zipped at night to stay warm. He rode with me up to Mt Harbor Hostel where I parked my car. I gave him some protein bars and a few Poptarts. He turned down my offer to take an extra set of gloves and walked away bare handed as the snow flakes fell around him. I feel so fortunate to be blessed with enough so that I can go out and hike without the daily worries that a person like Terry may have to deal with. As I hiked up the mountain I thought about how lucky I am to have a wife and kids that support my adventure on the AT.The uphill seems easier today. Either I¢m well rested after two zero days or my legs are getting stronger. The snow varies today from an inch to 3 or 4 inches up at higher elevation. It¢s not hard to walk through PLUS I¢m trying out my new ¢Rocky Goretex¢ waterproof socks. Santiago, a NOBO from California, told me about them back at the Greasy Creek Friendly. IMHO they are worth the $65 price tag. My feet are dry for the first time this week! You can get them from Amazon or direct from apsltd.com, a sailing place in my hometown of Annapolis, MD. Make sure to get them big enough. I wear a size 10 shoe, a size 11 hiking boot (room for toes and hiking makes your feet bigger), and I ordered a size 12 Rocky Goretex sock. I wear it per the instructions over top of my thick hiking socks. 2:00 PM - WATERFALL !!Jones Falls is incredible. I can¢t believe that the person making the set of tracks in the snow ahead of me didn¢t make the .1 mile journey to see these falls. I used a ¢slow shutter¢ app on my iPhone to take some photos with the blurred water effect that you can see in today¢s photo. Then, just before getting to the shelter tonight¢¦ ANOTHER really nice waterfall - Mountain Falls. I¢m going to hike back .2 miles in the morning to see this little wonder one last time again before I depart for the day. My new SuperFeet inserts seemed to have made a difference. My (good) foot isn¢t hurting in the arch anymore. Oh, (I keep adding more good stuff for today) I made it to the 400 mile mark today. I stomped out ¢400¢ in the snow and took a selfie to celebrate. I¢ve done more than 400 if you include the miles I did last fall on the AT in VA/MD but 400 sure FEELS nice. Way to go Flash 52 !You Are On Fiya My Man ! (I promise to tell you the story behind that phrase)Thanks for indulging me as I congratulate myself a bit. I¢m here alone at the Mountaineer Shelter tonight. Yum, lentils and polenta. Healthy and delicious : ) I really appreciate all of your comments and suggestions. Just click on my guestbook on the left side of this page and you can send me a message.