Date: 2005-04-30
From: U.S. 19 E

To: campsite
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

Day 50Was up at 6:30am and went over to Buck's Restaurant for a breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, biscuit, and coffee. Buck's dad was there and he drove hikers Mudhen, Gigi, Slip'n Slide, and Tiny Dancer to the trailhead. They were going to try and make it to Kincora Hostel--24 miles away. After breakfast and after Sleeveless and I were packed and ready to go he took us a mile up the road, also. I gave him a dollar for gas. He tried to give it back but I insisted. Buck let 10 of us stay in the apartment without charging anything and I think that it is too easy for hikers to take advantage of free stuff. Even Mountain Mamma's charges a dollar for a 2 mile ride back to the trail. Anyway, we were on the trail by 9 a.m. Sleeveless is a faster hiker than I am but not as fast as some of the others that pass me. She is 60 years old and from New Hampshire. She has done a lot of hiking up there hiking over most of the mountain peaks. The trail was up a lot at first to get us into the mountains after crossing through some grassy hillsides. But after we got in the woods it was mostly up and down and most of it was gradual ups although some were not as gradual as I would have liked. The trail was very muddy half the time and nice and smooth for the most part the rest of the time. Although my shoes and socks were wet yesterday they were dry when I started out this morning thanks to a space heater in the apartment last night. They are not dry now, though. There were places where I had no choice but to step in the mud and sink down to where the shoes were covered. The shelter was a 17.7 mile hike but I am short of that about 4 miles, I think. It started raining lightly a half hour or so before I got to this camping spot so I thought I had better stop here on the trail where it is flat and looks like someone has camped before. I am the only one here. Everyone else is going on to the shelter. I'd rather set up the tent here than later in possibly a pouring rain. Besides, I'm tired. The day has been overcast all day with the sun peeking through just a few times. A couple of nights ago at Overmountain Shelter, Sunshine had a cough so I gave her some of the cough medicine and a decongestant that was prescribed for me that night and the next morning. Then yesterday we stayed at the same place and I gave her some more. Just a while ago she went hiking by with 2 other hikers that stayed at Buck's last night and I gave her the rest of the medicine since I have not been taking it. I did take all of my antibiotic, however. We are planning on seeing each other at Kincora and if I need it back, I can get it then. But I am a lot better and she does not have any insurance. Sunshine is an RN that did most all the trail last year and is going for a thru-hike again this year. She got her name Sunshine because of her smile. She is a very sweet young 26 year old woman. Gypsy Lulu and Touk are 2 sisters from Michigan. Lulu is 23, I think, and Touk is 19. They are very sweet girls also and sing a lot. They say their family has always sang around the house and they do have very good voices. They are very knowledgeable about plants and especially about the plants that are edible and used for medicines. Domino is a young male hiker--I'd say in his late 20Ks or early 30's. He is walking to raise awareness of aneurysms and the symptoms of one. His mother is in a nursing home and has been for 2 years with one-sided paralysis and his grandmother died from complications of an aneurysm. He also seems like a very nice young man. All these young people went to a nearby club last night to do karaoke and they said they had a great time. They sang a lot with the locals.The 4 that started out this morning before we did are Gigi and her husband, Slip 'n Slide from the United Kingdom. Mudhen is from Toledo (where he was raised and now has his things stored) but most recently lived in Washington, DC. Some of the ones I mentioned before, maybe, are Low Gear and Jake-Brake--this is their 2nd thru-hike and are older like Toto and myself. They started the same day as we did. Hopper and Spike are on their 2nd thru-hike, as well, and I'm guessing they are in their forties. Bearbait is older, like us, and is an RN. I have mentioned Butterfly Moon--she is around 23 and also an RN. The last I knew her boyfriend came to Erwin and was going to hike to Erwin with her. Phoenix, who got off in Hot Springs due to a fracture in his foot, was in Erwin at Miss Janet's Hostel shuttling people around and helping them to slack-pack by taking them to a trailhead and then picking them up at a road where the trail crosses when they were finished with the section they were hiking. He is going to Damascus,Va. to do the same. Red Hat has gotten off the trail. She was going to get a shuttle to Johnson City and get a bus to Damascus where her husband is meeting her in their RV this week-end. But when we were all out eating last Sunday evening Butterfly Moon's boyfriend, Rich, was saying he needed to drive his truck to Damascus and find a ride back so he can hike with Butterfly Moon to Damascus. Red Hat said she could drive it since she is planning to go there anyway. We met a hiker, trail-named Wonderer but now renamed Uncle Ed, in Erwin. Mike was at McDonald's and met him and offered him a ride back to the Super-8 where he was also staying. He is 72 and a much faster hiker than a lot of younger hikers. He really is an amazing example. Well, I am getting chilly so am going to get inside my sleeping bag and maybe read some in my book while I still have some light. The battery in my headlamp is almost dead so I need to pick up another one somewhere.One more thing I forgot to mention about yesterday's hike. As I was starting to hike up over Little Hump Mountain three white-tailed deer came from the west and crossed the trail. They were not very near but I could tell they were quite large. It was an awesome sight to see them so gracefully run across and stop and then run and stop and run again until they were out of sight. They definitely knew I was there.Good night.