Date: 2014-05-04
From: just outside Sams Gap

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: clear sky

AT day 29 SundayWe awoke to insane high winds this morning. It was fun trying to pack tents without them blowing away! But the sun was shining and we had miles to do so we set off up our first big climb of the day. We planned on doing about 17 miles today so we have a short walk into Erwin tomorrow where we will get to see a friend, Mr Blister, who we met on the Florida Trail! Anyways, we tried to go slow up our first few hills. My legs are really sore lately and Kent was still feeling a little tired too (probably because we are doing the equivalent of something like four thousand squats a day). However, three miles passed quickly, then we met our monster climb up to Big Bald. It was pretty steep and rocky in places, but slow and steady helps. We made it to the top in record time! It was super windy though, so we opted to go down a tad and break on the side of the mountain protected from the wind. The view was beautiful and we could see the trail go up the other side through the grass. Very cool!A few miles later we took a nice long break in an awesome sunny spot where we could lay with our feet up. Long breaks with no bugs and sunshine are pretty much what we live for out here. Plus, we could eat more of our food! Trail magic for two days allowed us to save our own food so we had extra snacks today! After that break there was some nice downhill which wasn't too steep! That didn't last long as we had another steep climb up to high rock. It was a neat place with a huge rock sticking out of the mountain at the top. At the bottom we came to a crystal clear stream that was perfect for soaking our feet in! The water was freezing. It made our feet numb within minutes! But it felt so good! There were two tiny little brook trout hanging out near us too! After we left the stream we had a hefty climb by a beautiful river with tons of waterfalls. They were nice, but I'm not sure we could appreciate them fully since there was sweat dripping in our eyes. It was getting close to the end of the day so the hills felt terrible. We finally crossed a dirt road so I knew we were only three miles from camp. However, the last few miles always seem the longest. It was a nice night and the forest was pretty. It even smelled good! We passed through a section that smelled sweet, woodsy, and like fresh cut wood. It was awesome! But I was starving because I didn't eat at our last break and was disappointed that there was no camping near the first water source (which we were hoping there was so we could take trail baths) so we had to keep walking. My feet were cut up again and I was hurting. Not eating and being in pain makes me grumpy, so I wasn't being very optimistic. Finally, Jon suggested we take a quick break. Smart move. We all sat for a few minutes and I ate a snack. Much better. Turns out the next water source was two seconds away which meant the shelter was about five minutes away!   While I was getting water, Jon actually grabbed my pack and carried it up to the shelter for me! Yay! The shelter was really small but there were only four guys in it so I decided to be lazy and sleep in it so as not to have to set up my tent! How can someone who walks over three hundred miles be lazy, you ask? That's how. Not wanting to set up and break down a tent is pretty much the ultimate in laziness I think! The guys staying here were actually super cool! We had Lt Dan, Flatlander, Izzy the kid, and Kinetic. We had seen them over the last few days, but hadn't really talked with them much. I'm glad we got the chance tonight. Three of them are from FL! They were funny and cracked me up. Conversation was great. But watching them try to hang a bear bag was pretty much the best entertainment I've had out here. It was hilarious! Today was another amazing day! If we continue to have more days like this, Kent may be forced to stay on the trail after all! Stan, his name this week is still RH, which can mean Reluctant Hiker, Really Hard, or Really Happy. I think this week it's actually Really Happy! And he said his heel felt good today! Woo hoo!