Date: 2007-05-12
From: Apple House Shelter, TN

To: Laurel Fork, TN
Miles today: 12.9

Wow, what a day! I've gotta back up to last nite though. After I finishedjournaling, as I was sitting around the fire w\everyone, the course ofconversation was of course, FOOD! LOL I was starving, matter of fact, everyonewas. Well, Fuzzy Monkey mentioned there was a B&B\Hostel .3 miles down theroad, which was only .5 miles away. It is called Mountain Harbour B&B andHostel. So, Persistent gets her guidebook out, and I call (using Freightlinersphone, Verizon wins again!). I asked if 7 of us could come in just forbreakfast in the morning. Answer? YES! I asked what was on the menu, and boydid we all get charged up, fried potatoes, blueberry pancakes, egg casserole,and LOTS more! They told us to be there around 7:30 a.m.This meant we could eat our trail breakfast now! LOL Persistent got our fooddown from the tree, and a protein bar has never tasted better to me! LOLSo we all decided to get up early and go. I was hanging right next to a creek,and the temp was 55 when I woke this morning. No sleeping pad, and I was warm. Well, I ended up having this hilarious dream about going for breakfast! LOL Inmy dream, it was this trashy apartment building with sketchy people hangingaround. We went inside and the kitchen was SO tiny, but there was an ironskillet on the stove with fried potatoes in it, and the people told us to justgrab some with our hands, which I proceeded to do! LOLWell back to what reality, the alarm went off @ 5:45 a.m., and we were hiking @6:55 a.m.! Food motivates like no other. Unlike my dream, this place wasINCREDIBLE! A beautiful home, horses, an area that tents could be pitched, abarn with goats, a stream, and a kick-ass hostel with full kitchen andeverything! So we all go up to the main house (the hostel is built above the barn, which ishome to 2 horses ad 3 goats). I walk in and it is a beautiful open floorplanwith a huge kitchen. On the island in the kitchen was a hiker's dream! Allhomemade food, blueberry pacakes, sausage, ham, eggs, fruit, monkey bread,muffins, cheese, bread, and this awesome apple\raisin pudding like stuff to namea few things. Coffee, hot tea, OJ on the table! It was a serve yourself buffetstyle, and let's just say, I ate and ate and ate. This was THE best food I'vehad all hike! How good? 3 plates good! LOL Here's the kicker, thisincredible meal cost a mere $6.00!!!So seriously, if you hike this trail, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT bypass thisplace. They do shuttles, the hostel was really great with a private room or abunk option, shower, laundry, the works! What really stood out was thecleanliness of the place. Really classy. The owners, Mary and Terry are supernice people. Here's the website: www.mountainharbour.netSo we all left fat and happy (I'm starving again right now just writing about itby the way! LOL), and headed up the driveway. All of a sudden, here comesanother thru-hiker Talkerman, in a rental car. He gave us a ride back up to thetrail, and at 9:22 a.m. we were off again.This area has a reputation for not liking hikers (except for the Hostel), andthey show it by dumping trash on the trail. Pretty sad, blue surgical gloves,glass, you name it. Then a bit further up, there's a place where the "big"stuff (stoves, drainage duct, etc.) is dumped over the side of the road and intoa ravine the AT goes by. Really sad to see.We finally got past all that and it was a VERY humid day. I was sweatingbuckets within the first mile. We had a couple of climbs, but for now, allclimbs are compared to Roan Mountain, and it wasn't as bad as that.And then the rains came. Sprinkles @ first, and a bit heavier, but the treesare so filled out that they actually blocked a lot of the rain for awhile. Itwas really pretty, and a warm 77, so I wasn't worried about getting a litle wet. I never wore rain gear today.Oh, 2 months on the trail TODAY!! Yes we know if we never changed our pace,we'd need 8 more months to finish. LOL We're picking it up slowly though, andthis easier terrain helps A LOT!Anyway, we were headed to a brand new shelter called Mountaineer Shelter. Onthe way is a blue blaze .1 mile trail to Jones Falls. WOWEE!! It was soawesome and beautiful. I took a video of it, so watch for that to go upsometime. I was at a loss for words, so I kept saying how "awesome" it was! LOL So totally worth the short walk there, don't miss it!When I left the falls, it was raining a bit harder. We also passed the ElkRiver which was pretty. It was really a beautiful day despite the rain. Lotsof stream crossings, and fairly easy hiking.By the time we got to Mountaineer Shelter, it was raining pretty hard. Wedecided, since it was early afternoon, to cook our hot meal under cover of theshelter. Persistent got grossed out because I added peanuts to my Ramen. LOLWe were there with a lot of people from last nite as well as a few new ones. The rain finally ended, so we decided to push on so tomorow won't be so long. There is a hostel called Abby's Place, and Persistent almost decided to gobecause her new shoes are ripping up her heels. I decided I didn't want to gothere, even if it was raining later.I have truly shed my fear of weather (except for cold LOL). Persistent didn'twant to set up her tent in the rain, because the inside gets all wet. I didn'tsay a word except for "Do you notice how polite I am being?" LOL She knewexacty what I was thinking, "well if you had a hammock, you could put the tarpup first and stay dry for everything else!" LOLWe kept going and decided to stop @ Laurel Fork, which is either a large streamor small river. I'm hanging about 10 ft from the water. I can hear an owl overthe river though. It is currently 62 degrees, but a cool one. I'm actuallyshivering a bit, so I best add another layer and get some sleep. My left arch is still in pain, I keep stretching all day, takig Vitamin I, etc. I really hope this isn't going to be a "forever" sort of thing. The trail was fragrant yet again, very green and the rhodadundren's are prettyclose to blooming. It's a final 12 or so miles tomorrow to get to KincoraHostel for resupply, showers, and laundry. Oh, we saw that Not Guilty and Sailor are 4 days ahead of us. Not thinking theyare going to trail days, so I may not see them for awhile. BOO HOOAnd you know my special 180-degree bearbag throw? Well Persistent has one of herown. I call it the "what goes straight up must come straight down" throw! LOL More laughter again tonite from our unskilled selves. ~Certain