Date: 2015-05-03
From: Watauga Lake

To: Dennis Cove Rd.
Miles today: 8.6

(A word to family and friends who thought I was hiking sobo, or southbound, from Virginia to Dennis Cove Rd, Hampton, TN. Mike and I changed our minds at nearly the last minute, and I'm back to hiking nobo. Except today. I'll explain that in a minute. )Which is worse to hike in, bone-chilling cold or sweltering heat? It doesn't really matter because it seems I'm destined to hike in both on this leg. Yikes!Mike and I drove to Dennis Cove Rd. yesterday. We had an excellent agenda: we were going to park at the road crossing and hike together 2 miles to a shelter, and camp together for the night. There's a big waterfall along the way. In the morning I would set off for an 8.4 mile hike to the next shelter while he returned to the Jeep and drove home. I was concerned about my day's hike, the 8.4 miles included Pond Mountain, an imposing looking bump on my elevation profile, and I know that I am NOT in hiking shape, and the Green Monster (my backpack) is very heavy with the 6-7 days of food I need to get me to Damascus, my next town stop.Our excellent plan had to change, though. When we got to Dennis Cove Rd. there were signs informing us that a 4 mile section of the trail, which includes the shelter I had planned to stay in,was clclosed to camping and overnight stays due to bear activity. Evidently a pair of juvenile male bears (delinquents, no doubt), are causing some trouble. So, we did some re-arranging of the schedule and ended up camping there at DennisCove Rd, there is a nice area there along a creek. The night was ffreezing cold, 44degrees when we got up, and the overnight low had been 37! Brrr! I had mistakenly assumed the cold weather was over for the year. This morning we left the bulk of my belongings at Kincora Hostel and Mike drove me north to Watauga Lake so I could slackpack back south to Kincora. This solved a couple of problems, or so we thought. It allowed me to tackle the dreaded Pond Mt. without the weight of a full pack, it got me through the bear territory in the morning hours, and I get to spend what will undoubtedly be another cold night at the hostel instead of on the trail. Sounds great, right? Well, this was my hardest day of hiking yet, outside of the Smokies. (Everything comes in second to the Smokies.) Part of it, I know, is because I'm not in good hiking shape.   But the terrain was absolutely horrendous, and it would have been a hard day even if I'd been in shape, and I'm SO glad I didn't have the Green Monster on my back. I literally might not have made it. (Although I don't know what the alternative to making it is.) There were times during the day when I didn't think I could do it. It was crazy hot all day long, and with the trees not being completely leafed out I was in the blazing sun, sweating and sweltering and suffering. The ascent of Pond Mt. was just over 3 miles long, with an elevation gain of 1,516 ft. I huffed and puffed and strained and sweated and walked the 3 miles in 3 hours, at a pathetic rate of 1 mph. I was so relieved to finally get to the top and looked greatly forward to walking downhill. And it was easier, for the first 20 minutes or so. Then I was reminded of how hard downhill can be. The trail was very steep, with an elevation loss of 1,722 ft. over 2.5 miles. I was clambering around rocks, holding on with both hands.When I finally got to the falls, yes, they were beautiful, but a final challenge awaited me. The notorious" 396 steps", another wall of rock to struggle to the top of. I came out at Dennis Cove Rd. exhausted, footsore, and wringing with sweat. I hobbled down the road to Kincora Hostel and collapsed onto my bunk. I don't think I'll ever get up again. Good night.