Date: 2007-04-21
From: Roaring Fork Shelter, NC

To: Stealth campsite 2.1 miles down Bluff Mt., NC
Miles today: 9.4

Man did I pass out last nite. It was a warm nite, so I used my bag like a quiltand stayed toasty warm. I got up twice to water the leaves, and both times, Iturned my headlamp off and looked at the nite sky. The stars were spectacular. Persistent's guidebook said there was supposed to be a meteor shower last nite,but I never saw anything.I did wake up to a lot of condensation on the hammock side of my tarp. My bagwas pretty damp as well. Persistent had the same problem in her tent.I didn't wake up till 8:00 a.m. I had crazy dreams all nite. The temp was 42when I woke up.I got moving ad wondered how Persistent was feeling today. I asked and got athumbs down sign. Man do I feel badly for her. She has a wicked head cold andcan't breathe out of her nose at all. That makes for tough climbing.We headed out @ 9:30 a.m., not sure exactly how far we were headed. We justneed to be in Hot Springs by tomorrow afternoon, because Rachael is driving downfor a quick visit! YIPPY!!!We both had low energy today, and add Persistent's cold and she was justmiserable. We did, however, stop and soak our feet for the first time since theday we saw those 2 baby bear cubs. It was a warm glorious day with tempsreaching the mid-60's. We were both in shorts before long.The foot soak felt so good, and today's hike (at least the first 3 miles) wasfull of beautiful streams, and flat and easy trail. Little white flowers linethe trail all over. The sky was the deepest blue I've seen it so far. Signsthat spring is arriving.Shortly after our foot soak, we ran into 2 day hikers and their 1 yr oldTerrier, Lottie. This dog was hilarious and it was BOUNCING around wth anexcess of energy! LOL She was adorable. Her owners, Ursala and Edgar, wereout looking at the flowers to see how damaged they were from the recentsnowstorm. They told us this region of the country had a 100% loss of applecrops and other crops, due to that snowstorm and freeze. The trail has signs ofit everywhere, dead frost bitten leaves hang off tiny trees that never had achance.To me, this area, and particularly the Smoky's has an incredibly resilientecosystem because it continues to survive even after violent season changes likethe past few weeks.Persistent and I hiked on to Lemon Gap, where there is a parking area for dayhikers. She was REALLY wanting to hitch into Hot Springs because she felt sobad. I told her if she found someone she felt safe with, I'd probably continuehiking and meet her in Hot Springs tomorrow. If, however, the only option wassmoeone a little shady, I told her I'd hitch with her. Safety takes priorityover all things out here. I was being kind of dumb at first when she mentionedthe hitching idea to me, and didn't think about her feeling safer if I wentwith...DUH!!We ate lunch @ Lemon Gap, NC, hoping someone would drive up or come bck to theircar. We had passed a guy earlier on the trail who was hiking with a hub capstrapped to his pack. We both decided if he was the person who came back, we'dpass! LOLWell, we ate lunch and no one. Then a vehicle pulls up with a man\woman and 3dogs. They were day hikers as well. We talked to them a bit, and I finallyhinted around by saying, "Hey, is there a major road crossing close to here?" The guy said, "Yes, about 10 miles from here, why?" I told him Persistent wassick, and we wanted to hitch into Hot Springs (hint, hint). Then he proceededto tell us the dumbest thing possible. We had already told him we werethru-hikers, and he proceeded to tell us that Hot Springs was just on the otherside of this mountain. Ummmm...there were actually 2 huge mountains and 14.6miles to Hot Springs! LOL Now what kind of a hiker would I be if I didn't knowwhere my next shower and real meal was? LOLSo I left it up to Persistent what to do. She decided to just hike. We headedup Walnut Mt., and we knew there was a shelter @ the top. The climb was justexhausting, especially for her. We've seen worse, but the lack of energy killed.We get to the top and it was an eye sore. We found out via a flyer in theshelter, that the area was being cleared in order to restore an agriculturalfield that once existed. There were dead trees layig all over, some were burnt. I figured we'd stop @ this shelter, but after a short rest, Persistent decidedshe could hike over Bluff Mt., at least.Before we left, another hiker showed up, named Bumpa (that's the closest hisgrandkids could get to grandpa, how cute huh?). He is section hiking. We headed out, and just before going up, we stopped for a snack. I was gettinghungry every 2 hrs today. The sun @ this break place felt so good and warm. WeLOVE the sun!We both felt beter climbing up Bluff Mt (4,686 ft), and @ the top are these coolrocks. I saw a cute little mouse scury under one, and one rock was totallyshaped like a reclined chair, so I layed on it. Ahhh..in the sun, off my feet,last big climb of the day over. It was wonderful. Then this beautiful butterflydecided it really liked Persistent's shoe, so it stayed there for ever. It letme get an inch from it w\my camera!At this point, we decided after water, we'd stop @ the first place we saw tocamp when 5:30 p.m. came. It ended up being another 2.1 miles, but they wereeasy miles.We are stealth camping, Persistent is set up on what used to be a logging road(I think), and I am in my craziest hang ever. I am on a mountaside that is sosteep I have to use trees to hang onto when walking around! I'd bet I am thefirst hiker to camp here!! LOLWe ate dinner, and I lost all energy. Persistent told me she'd pay me $500 if Iwould hang our food. She hates doing it, but I don't mind. I told her I'd needthe cash first though! LOL She seemed to think we were going to get visited bya bear in the nite. I told her at least it would eat her first, since I was onsuch a steep hill! LOL I was in bed by 8:30 p.m., and fell asleep listening to my favorite nite sound,the owls. ~Certain