Date: 2006-03-14
From: Niday Shelter 

To: Catawba Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 23.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Great Day!...and I wasn¢t even rushing things either¢¦that is until the last couple of miles. Anyway it goes something like this. Got up a half hour or so before daybreak and was walking by 7:30.It was damn cold last night so I didn¢t fool around too much. My single breakfast item is these ¢Smuckers Uncrustables.¢¢¦peanut butter and jelly sandwiches found in the grocer¢s freezer. They get a little stale after being thawed out for two weeks but don¢t seem to spoil in their sealed wrapper. And they pack well.Today, I was dreading revisiting the single most hated stretch of my ¢03 thru-hike¢¦the climb up, over and down Dragons Tooth. All I remember was using the Lord¢s name in vain over and over and¢¦well you get the picture. What the hell did I expect from something called ¢Dragons Tooth¢ anyway?I tell you¢¦everyday I continue to amaze myself. This time I walked right by the Audie Murphy Memorial without even knowing it. Zip...zoom right on by without even a glance. Maybe cause it was only five miles into the day, I don¢t know. In ¢03 I stopped sat on the bench, visited, contemplated, cried and wrote a nice tribute to him in my journal. I guess I must have gotten distracted this time¢¦maybe I was listening to Willie Nelson sing ¢The Most Original Sin¢ on my MP3 and got carried away¢¦I don¢t know¢¦I just don¢t know, but I¢m pissed at myself.Oh well, I did get to talk to some black angus along side the Trail. (See picture above.) I love the way they listen to you...they let you talk and look right at you...ever notice? No one listens to me better than the cows on the AT...no one.Not long thereafter I reached Pickle Branch Shelter where I managed to eat the last few crumbs of food in my bag (snack food that is¢¦I still had a Mountain House and I knew I would be visiting a store just passed Dragons Tooth.)Then up and over Cove Mountain and Dragons Tooth. Actually, I felt so good today that the hike over Dragons Tooth is now A-Okay in my book. I take back anything and everything bad I ever said about it. On the way down to the valley I passed a young couple without even a day pack. We exchanged pleasantries with a nod and one eye on the ground. They are the only mortals I saw on the AT today.The new store that was under construction in ¢03 is opened for business. Although they had a sign advertising pizza and hamburgers, the only hot food visibly available was hot dogs and BBQ pork. I grabbed a hot dog (before I saw the BBQ) and a bag of Fritos. It then took me two hot chocolates and a half hour to hand pick the food I wanted to pack on to my next town stop tomorrow night. I made a phone call on the pay phone outside and paid my $13 tab and hit the trail. BTW, I haven¢t mentioned the famous Four Pines Shelter down the road from here is no more¢¦something about the owner¢s new wife doesn¢t care for hiker trash. It was cool and breezy today. When you stop walking it gets cold.At highway 311 to Catawba, there are warning signs about the scarcity of water between there and US 220¢¦the next 20 miles.The first shelter, Boy Scout Shelter, was only a mile past 311. It was getting late, after five, and I almost called it quits for the day. No one was there. Where the f¢¦ is everybody??? The next shelter, Catawba Mtn, was only a mile up the trail so I said what the hell. It turned out to be a good move cause I needed water and Catawba Mtn had a nice piped spring right out of the side of the hill.One of the items I bought back at the store was a 10 ct box of Swiss Miss hot chocolate. So, after my beef stroganoff, I had a double serving while getting ready for bed. It was cold out and would be getting down well below freezing tonight. I pitched the tent inside the empty shelter again.Just about the time I was ready to turn in on comes Bob Seger, ¢We¢ve got tonight¢¦who needs tomorrow¢¦lets make it last¢¦lets find a way¢¦I¢m lovin it!