Date: 2003-06-23
From: VA 624

To: Catawba Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: clear sky

We woke early this morning! When staying in a hostel, when people start getting up, it gets pretty noisy, so we all get up! However, getting up, and getting out the door are two different things! :) You have to imagine a big garage with mattreses and cots for 10, and 4 others sleeping out on the trampoline. There was gear everywhere!!! People standing in line for the bathroom, and others lined up at the 2-burner hot plate that was provided for our use. Being hikers, most people were eating a variation of oatmeal or grits....pretty much anything you can mix with hot water! One hiker, Sarah, is ecstatic cause someone left instant coffee in the hiker box. It doesn't take much to make us happy! :)   One by one, we packed up and took off down the road. The trail is .3 of a mile from the hostel, and the convience store is .7 past that. Bumpkin and I decided to make one more run for the payphone to send our pocketmails so Charlie waited at the trail with the packs.   Lucky us, the store was still fixing fresh biscuits, so I snagged a couple of egg and cheese for me and Charlie! This beats the peanut butter on a tortilla that I had for breakfast!   By the time we hit the trail, it was 10:30 and it was getting hot! Now, mind you, this is not a complaint! I love the heat! I don't want it to rain! But, it was the warmest hiking day so far!Charlie hiked with me for the day while Bumpkin took off at her own pace. The trail was perfect for Charlies first full-pack day out. It started with pine forests and switch-backs up the ridgeline, and then took us through several cow pastures. I was proud to show off my shaky skill at climbing stiles, and when a couple of them proved too difficult, Charlie took my pack for me so that I could climb them. The fields themseles where beautiful....lots of tall grass and wildflowers everywhere.    Oh, and they went uphill!! Did I mention that the day consisted of a LOT of uphill!? After the cow pastures came rocky trail that climbed up to a wonderful rock escarpment. We cimbed up to the top and took in the fabulous view of rolling farmlands. With a cool breze blowing, I was completely happy and could have stayed there for hours!   We never did catch up to Bumpkin and the last part of the day found us scrambing across rocks as the trail cimbed Catawba Mountain. Someone has done some serious trail work us here! There are steps carved into the uphill sections, and actual bridges built into the rock when it gets a little slanted! I told Charlie that this was not the normal AT!! Usually, they just make us suffer through those sections! I was really impressed at the work that went into it!   By the time we got to the shelter, we were both weary, but happy. After consulting with Bumpkin about the mosqito population at the shelter, we all decided to tent tonight Pirate is at the shelter, though, so we went down to cook dinner. Charlie did a good job of trying to burn the picnic table down with his stove, but luckily, the wood wouldn't catch! :)We laughed and carried on til Bumpkin left to go look at the sunset, and Charlie and I headed for our tents.    As we lay here, you can hear far off noises from town, covered with the comforting sounds of crickets and peepers. I am filled with contentment. During dinner we asked, "Is everyone exactly where they want to be right now?", and again, the answer was a unanimous 'yes'. This really is the life.....Love, Anna aka Mud Butt------------------------------Local access to PocketMail mobilee-mail now available in Europe, NorthAmerica & Australia http://www.pocketmail.com