Date: 2007-05-15
From: Watauga Lake Shelter, TN

To: Iron Mountain Shelter, TN
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: scattered clouds

First, I want to say a big Happy Birthday to my niece, Hannah! It was amazingly quiet last nite despite the huge # of people @ the shelter. Ithink I was still pretty dehydrated, so I got a little chilly, but I threw myknit cap on and was ok. It was about 55 degrees this morning. I never heard myalarm, so I ended up oversleeping and not waking up till 7:06 p.m. I wonderedwhy everyone was talking so loudly! LOLWe got started @ 8:37 a.m., but I'll be totally blunt here. I felt like totalshit today. It was pretty horrible actually. I had negative energy levels, andof course, my foot was really hurting today. It was "supposed" to be an easierday, but honestly, there's no such thing as an easy day out here. There aredays when you may have less exertion, but it's never easy.I also think I am learning what it feels like to not have the right combinationsof food this week. I already mentioned the selection @ the store was slimpickins, so I ended up with a lot of high calorie\sugary stuff, which the bodyburns thru really fast.I felt like my legs weighed 10 tons each, and I felt kind of hazy in my headtoday. I know it is partly because of my "intestinal episode" yesterday, whereI'm sure every good thing (vitamins, electrolytes, etc.) were lost completely. I was just running on fumes today.We did get to see a nice view of Watauga Lake, where we hiked over the dam. There was someone out in the water in houseboat with 5 fishing poles in thewater. I would have given anything to trade places just for today (and maybetomorrow too!).Honestly, I paid less attention to the trail today than on any other day becauseI felt so horrible. Persistent and even Quick Toez said they were really lowenergy too. Not sure what's going on other than the fact that we've all put ourbodies thru hell for 433 miles, and it is impossible to consume enough food. The temps were in the 70's today, so it was nice. Many parts of the trail hadgrass up to my knees. They need to get some goats out here to mow! LOL Lots of rhodadundrens and flame azaleaz have bloomed and the bright orange andpurple side by side was just beautiful.We took a break for lunch with Josh and Sara. They gave me some Crystal Lightsports powder, which I greatly appreciated. They are such a cool couple, and Ireally like being around them.About 4:00 p.m., we arrived @ a campsite about 3 miles from our destination. Iseriously could have layed on the ground and fallen asleep instantly. Persistent, Quick Toez and I all decided to go ahead and cook dinner to try toget some energy. Quick Toez, who is a very sweet guy from Connecticut, actuallyoffered to rub my hurting foot, but I woud NEVER put anyone thru that, not outhere anyways! LOL Instead, he gave me more chocolate! I'm saving it for ourcelebration of entering Virginia in 2 days!!While we were eating, Tyvek showed up. He started a SOBO hike last year, andhe's finishing up now. He made all of his gear (pack, water bottle holders,sleeping gear) out of tyvek. He's hiking barefoot to increase awareness forveterans who were not properly debriefed or taken care of upon exiting theservice. You should have seen his feet! I got a pic of his gear, andPersistent got a pic of him with it on.Eating did help a bit with the energy, and the break relieved my foot pain forawhile too. There's a hiker named C-Shot, who is from Virginia. His parents came out tohike into Virginia with him. Super nice people, and his mom (who is a nurse)almost made me cry today, because she was so encouraging. We were .2 miles fromthe shelter @ the water source, and his parents even offered to carry our packsup the hill to camp! We declined, but it was really nice to have that kind ofnurturing energy thrown my way on a day like this.We got into camp @ 6:20 p.m. There's only 8 of us here tonight. Young Eagle,Sweetwater, C-Shot, his parents, Persistent, JB, and I. Had a greatconversation about cartoons and toys with the guys, while sitting by a fire.Seems I'm not the only one who still loves Transformers, Thundercats, and theMatrix. I'll admit it, I still have all of my transformer toys! LOLIt's 8:30, 63 degrees, and I'm exhausted. This shelter is great for hanging bythe way. Lots of space, unlike last nite. I hope I feel better tomorrow. We'll be 1 day closer to Virginia, so that'sgood. It was a hard day. At one point, I just stood there and let all of theemotions come pouring out (yup..more tears). Sometimes, that's all you can doout here, so I did it. Tomorrow is a new day. ~Certain