Date: 2015-05-06
From: Vandeventer Shelter, TN

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter, TN
Miles today: 22.7

Last night, as I expected, was an awful night. Of the 6 hikers sleeping in the shelter, 4 would snore through the night and Rock Boat would join as the 5th during the morning hours, though he contonues to deny it. I entertained the thought of dragging my sleeping gear out and finding a place to cowboy camp, but laziness won out and I tossed and turned as the hours passed. Eventually, however, the sun would appear and our day would be underway.Rock Boat would set off early and would only be seen, for the most part, at only a few locations throughout the morning and early afternoon hours. As for me, today would be a music day as I popped in the headphones to my iPod and fell in line with Moosehead and Hobble. Past Turkeypen Gap and Iron Mountain Shelter, the first few miles would pass by quickly as the terrain along the Damascus Highway consists of minor ups and downs as the trail flip-flops between the east and west sides of the ridge. We took our first quick break at the burial site and monument of Nick Grindstaff. Hobbel mentioned that he was somehow related to the man born in the 1850's so we grabbed a few pictures with him standing alongside the monument.Back on the trail the hours and miles would continue to pass as I pushed on with the aid of my music. You never know what you'll find yourself thinking about on the trail with so many miles and hours at your disposal. Sometimes it's remembering funny things said in conversation, days spent spoiled on a lake, completely stupid and pointless stuff, or, as in the case of a long stretch today, my mom. There's no rhyme or reason to what or why certain things enter your mind, but a series of songs spurred it on. Specifics don't need to be shared, for they are my thoughts and she's my mom, but I will say how blessed I feel to have had her in my corner all of these years. It may have taken a handful of stubborn years to realize this, but the fact that her support in my endeavors literally goes to the ends of a map is something truly special and something I take pride in knowing. She's given so much to me and knowing she's one of my biggest fans as I go off into the woods for several months is enough motivation to keep going.After exiting the woods at TN 91, we crossed the road and entered a large pasture surrounded by mountain ridges on all sides. The trail continued through this pasture, along a wooden fence, an old barn, and an even older Chevy truck, before reaching its high point atop a hill where a bench stood waiting for weary hikers to have a seat. Moosehead, Hobble, and I all jumped on and enjoyed the beauty we were surrounded by. It never gets old exiting out of the woods into great open areas; it helps remind hikers the true amount of space and distance we're actually covering. We cracked open our food bags and enjoyed the remaining food in the doggy-bags prepares for us by Bushwacker yesterday - BBQ chicken and BBQ pork. More delicious than the food was the reassuring thought that I woulsn't be schlepping around the excess weight anymore. Just as we were about to continue on we met another hiker, Mushroom, who was passing through the pasture as well. She's 29 and from Louisville, KY so we exchanged a few comments regarding being familiar with some of the same areas. She's very interested in edible plants that can be found all along the trail and she taught a few to me in the process. Before reentering the woods, we walked by ~20 cows who were enjoying the great weather, their mouts chomping on grass as they stared at the foreign objects passing through their pasture.We continued through the woods for a bit before reaching Double Springs Shelter where we grabbed a quick snack and met back up with Rock Boat. Continuing over Locust Knob, and through Low Gap, the hike would begin taking it's toll on all of us. We literally limped into Double Spring Gap campsite where we discussed possibly camping for the night. However, the lack of a water source was enough to make us press on the final ~3 miles to our current campsite. Suffering with sore feet and pretty severe chaffing throughout my nether regions, these last remaining miles seemed to crawl as I went into a state of tunnel vision watching for Abingdon Gap Shelter to appear. We encountered a teaser on McQueen's Knob when we unknowlingly stumbled upon a shelter no longer in use. Known as the "love shack," a male hiker rested inside and informed us the actual shelter was still a bit further down the trail. We were actually relieved for the vibe he was giving puttinf out was a bit off-putting.We continues through McQueen's Gap until I finally crested a hill and saw the top of a shelter and several tents in the gap below. Relieved to be done with another 20+ mile day, Moosehead and I quickly tossed out gear down in a clear area and made our way to the water source, appropriately a quarter mile trek down a steep valley. We drank our fair share of water so as to prevent future trips, I exchanged comments with 2 older gentlemen from Mississippi regarding the season their state recently experienced in college football, and then made my way back up and out of the valley. Too tired to cook or set up a tent, a hodgepodge dinner of oatmeal with M&M's mixed in, a Nutty Butty, an oatmeal creme pie, and a few Snickers was soon shoved down my mouth. I, along with Moosehead, will both be cowboy camping tonight under our tent fly's that we tied up between trees. My goal tomorrow is to reach Damascus, VA with as few obstacles as possible. My current chaffing situation needs to be taken care of.My next milestone lies ~6.5 miles away, the TN/VA border. We will pass through in the morning and celebrate in our own trail way. We plan to then reach Damascus a few miles later and spend the afternoon restocking on supplies and hopefully finding somewhere to eat and charge our gadgets.Here's to 3 states down.