Date: 2016-05-19
From: Elk River Camp

To: Black Bear Resort
Miles today: 18.0

5/19 - Day Forty FiveWhat can I say about today? Where yesterday was utopia, today had moments from hell. I am happy I banked some positive vibes from the previous hike yesterday. Although today was not bad enough to pull out deposits, it came close. It started with an all night rain soaking and while I stayed dry in the Tarp Tent, everything I was carrying had a wet and slimy feel to it in the morning. Mornings like this are tough to get moving, and then throw in suspicious trout waters, a morning fire, music and, well we did not get rolling to 11 am. We did get some fishing in, Mayfly caught one Rainbow Trout, I spent my morning untangling leader knots and demonstrating being pissed. The terrain ahead of us appeared easy, we set a target for Black Bear Resort (18 miles). What we did not budget for was the muddy trail conditions that laid in wake of recent rains. As I trudged forward I felt like a British Tommy marching forward into the trenches of the Somme preparing to take on the Hun in the knee deep mud. Ironically enough the epic WW1 Battle of the Somme got under way 100 years ago this month (for you history buffs). Speaking of battles, the Holy Cow Burger (Colon Bomb) apparently set up an offensive battle position somewhere in the 12 feet of my coiled intestines. With mud sucking at my feet every step and a battle raging from within, I knew this day was not going to be a cake walk.Yet we trudged on. The woods were far less than exciting as most of the day we were encased In a tunnel of continuous rhododendron, which seemed to help the wetness lock-in and create further mud holes out of what was formally the AT. Despite the crummy conditions,we played a game of "how far can we get in a hour" and burned a lot of energy that would be needed later in the day doing so. We range between 2 to 4 miles an hour with packs. We estimated that some of the trail was "4 mile trail", but the muck held us to no greater than 3. A lot of hikers wear trail runners. Trail runners to me are sneakers with better soles. I was happy I was wearing my Vasque Breeze hiking boots as I was able to move easy without "stepping round" mud holes. By the end of the day my kicks looked like a cake of mud,but my sox and feet were dry. I did however decide it is time to buy gaiters to keep dirt and rocks out of my shoes. About 7 miles left in the day the trail changed and became more of ups and downs. At this point I was alone (as we all spread out) and I started running low on energy. The miles seemed to go on forever and as the day became late, a weird gloominess settled over what seemed to be a mountainous rainforest. To add to the drama,the trail became littered with "slick as shit" roots that have been marinating in water for who knows how long. At least once I laid it down on my ass and to make it even more fun, I ran out of water! Running out of water was like a punch in the gut, as earlier in the day we crossed at least 25 streams and even at one point questioned if we were going in a big circle... Cross stream, go up slick rise, go down slippery slope, walk through a muddy section, walk through a rhododendron tunnel and repeat. The last 7 miles were pretty weak in terms of interesting terrain. Equally as weak was my performance, let's just say I made it through to the road of which the Black Bear Resort (hostel) resides on....only the hostel was another half mile before the hike for the day was officially done!The half mile down Dennis Cove Road helped my attitude as the change in scenery was uplifting and a strange peaceful calm came over me. I knew Justin and Mayfly were ahead of me (and would already have s cabin secured). The pleasant surprise for the day was seeing that Trout, Voodoo and Blister (collectively the Apple Dumpling Gang) were hanging at the hostel. We like the Apple Dumpling gang, they are good kids. They were "no shows" at Trail Days... The official reason given was they avoided "the whole mess" due to "lack of self control". The Black Bear is a clean place and the cabins have porches. We spent the evening on the porch enjoying a few beers and getting caught up. Later in the evening J (Tortise) showed up with his girlfriend Sarah. She was toting a large box of cookies which were soon devoured. They were there with J's parents who live in NC. It's always great seeing J and Sarah and seeing them further lifted my spirits. After visiting I took a shower...the shower at the Black Bear was the best shower I had in the AT. The water was actually hot and the fact that I was hosing off 5 days of stink made it that much nicer.Hiking the AT is bizarre in that you never know when you are going to see someone again, if ever.