Date: 2003-05-13
From: Kincora Hostel

To: Vanderventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

I must back up to last night. After I already written my journal, Niagra comes in asking if anyone wanted a shuttle to town. I needed lunches so I jumped in. It turns out the shuttle is from a another hostel. As we drive to Hampton, Tennessee, I.B and Two Dog Night tell me how great this hostel is. There is a lot of peer pressure to take advantage of the slack packing packages being offered. This is the other problem I have with slack packing. I don't want to buy a thru-hike, I just want to hike it. Never the less, if I just stay at the hostel it will be $6. Kincora hostel is full and I would wind up sleeping on the porch. Baltimore Jack has a following now and it is always crowded where he is with people slack packing for a week or so. I want to point out that it is ok for other people to slack pack and it is just my preference that it is not for me. There is another advantage to the second hostel: they allow alcohol. So in town I got some food and a six pack. I still paid for Kincora hostel since I ate there, took a shower, washed my clothes, picked up my mail drop, and they only charge $4 donation. Both had their advantages and together they cost $10. I can tell that the second one was more of a business that tried to get you to slack pack for a week and sell you food from their store and small grill. I only wanted a bed and a place to drink 4 beers. In the morning, I got my pack situated and headed out. I ran into Lightbright as I was leaving. I have run into her briefly before, she seems very nice. My goal was to get the two big hills out of the way and then it is smooth sailing to Damascus. Right away I came upon Laurel Falls. These falls are spectacular. 80 foot drop into an incredible pool of clear mountain water. I was able to climb to the top and take pictures. I hope they justify the beauty of this place. Leaving the falls, the trail runs for about 2 miles trough a fantastic gorge with huge cliffs on both sides. I felt at the peak of happiness walking along the creek. Never before have I felt so content and free. After my little walk though wonderland, reality hit hard with Pond Mountain. This was really steep and just when you thought you were at the top, the worst was yet to come. Switchbacks are where the trail zig-zags up the side of a mountain so it won't be so steep. No one ever taught the people of Tennessee this concept. It just went straight up to a plateau. At the top, I enjoyed lunch with Sara and Jason. They are very nice, seem to keep to themselves a lot, but still very nice. I had to hike down the other side to a big manmade lake. No Pain and Slim were there and they gave me a cold beer. I resisted the McDonalds 2 miles away. Soon Laffy Taffy strolled by. She said Pace is sick. There have been quite a few hikers getting sick lately. I left them behind and went to a very large earthen dam. I haven't made very good time and decided to change to my sandals again. I had to walk until 9:00 until I found the shelter. I knocked out all the major uphills to Damascus and got 17 miles closer. That was the push I needed. Now I am 33 easy miles from partying at Trail Days. There is something called the Damascus challenge. It is to hike the 33 miles from this shelter all the way to town in 24 hours. There are several hikers trying it. I'm not sure if I'll try it. Peace,Dutch