Date: 2005-05-04
From: Moreland Gap Shelter

To: Dennis Cove Road
Miles today: 5.8

I got up early and was walking by 6:20. I made it down to Kincora, in the door by 8:30 I felt terrible going in. My intention was to get in here and get my stuff, without taking a shower or doing laundry, and just running to Damascus, 50 miles away.But, feeling the way I did when I got in here I knew that I must be out of energy. I would say I lost 5-6 pounds yesterday, doing 26 miles and I paid for it today.   I decided that the smartest thing was to listen to my body and hang out. Most of the hikers that had stayed here the night before were getting ready to leave, including Patch and Bean town and a couple of others. I started doing my laundry, took a shower and decided I was going to stay the day here and beef up.So I waited for the first shuttle Bob Peoples took into town and I re-supplied. I got candy bars, cigarettes and cigars, and most importantly, some rib eye steaks. A lot of heavy, fat foods. I came back and cooked it up.   Jersey Fresh went with us, he also got some steaks, so we cooked them together.Kincora is a busy place, and well deservedly so. Bob Peoples runs an awesome hostel and is an awesome person himself. He's a mover and shaker on the ATC and a wonderful person to talk to and be around. He's incredibly intelligent about everything that has to do with the AT.I spent the day eating and repacking. I had a mail drop here, so I went through it and determined how much food I would need. I did a lot of repairs on my gear. My tent and fanny pack needed sewing. My backpack needed some repairs.Later on, after the second run to the store, Seeker got some stuff for me, some lighters and hamburgers and we sat around and cooked.A lot of hikers here, a lot of comradery, a really good, fun time hanging out with everybody.Damascus is about 50 miles from here. I'm going to try to make it by Friday night. It's highly unlikely, but I'm going to try to make it as close as possible so that I can get in to Damascus early on Saturday if I can't make it Friday night. It's always good to just stay right outside of town and camp and get in there first thing in the morning.I have 3 different boxes coming into Damascus: my mail drop, my bump box, and another box that I sent from Hot Springs with things that I didn't want to carry. I just realized that I told Nina, Bob's girlfriend, to address it to the post office instead of the Outfitter. So 2 boxes will go to the Outfitter and 1 to the post office. Now I have to try to get in on time to get the box from the post office. It's good walking trail from here on after I get over Watauga Dam and Pond Flats. After being well fed, and gaining 5 pounds, I should be in good shape to run again.I'm not trying to make the big miles on purpose, I'm just trying to fulfill the obligations that I have to people I said I would meet.I'm tenting outside of the hostel, I chose not to take a bunk because I will probably be up before the sun comes up and walking as early as possible.I feel much better now. I had 3 hamburgers, a rib eye steak, a bowl of ice cream, a chicken sandwich, a moon pie, a 2 liter bottle of Coke, and handfuls of soy peanuts.