Date: 2017-06-18
From: Sarver Hollow 

To: Stealth Campiste/Dragons Tooth Ridgeline
Miles today: 17.7

Day 47Sunday, June 18, 2017 Stealth Campsite by Sarver Hollow Shelter (679.3) to Stealth Campsite on Dragons Tooth Ridgeline (697)Miles: 17.7 miles in 11 hours with three breaks (including a swimming hole break)2017 AT trip miles: 697Total AT miles to date: 1986.5Weather: Sunny, hot, 70s, 80sDinner: One Pot Taco DinnerHikers: Cindy Lou Who, Hendricks, Screech, a new couple at the swimming holeWildlife: LizardsWoke up in a damp low-lying cloud to find millipedes on everything. Picture armored earthworms with lots of feet. Half a dozen were clinging to the food bag paracord. Others were on the tent ropes. The worst were the ones exploring the sweaty bits of my backpack¢which is basically the entire thing. I intended to reach a hostel tonight, but at 22 miles¢that was going to mean another long day. And it was again hot. I rinsed the sweat out of my shirt in late morning and let it dry on my body while I hiked. A swim would be nice. And there were again PUDs. We went up Brush Mountain for the sole purpose of going right back down. However this afternoon¢s ascent and descent of 3100-foot Brush Mountain was one of the nicer forested mountains to date. It had gentle switchbacks, unlike yesterday's sweat-pouring, calf-burning forced march straight up. No rhododendrons. Blueberries, oaks, evergreen trees and some kind of stone-colored lizard¢meaning dry. The trail was carpeted with pine needles until the ridge line¢which wasn't full of rocky scree like earlier this morning or yesterday. And the heat carried the scent of pine. It reminded me of Arizona. It reminded Screech of Colorado. Screech showed up today. He ended up being a day ahead of me ever  since we camped together on top of the Roan Highland Balds. Screech had taken a zero a few days ago in Pearisburg and that was all the time I needed to get ahead.Meanwhile, Cindy Lou Who, Hendricks and I appear to be hiking similar daily distances. We don't hike together, but tend to see each other at breaks. Both of them are younger than my kids¢and faster. At the bottom of Brush Mountain there was a large stream¢with a swimming hole! Screech was in it and another couple were just packing up after their dip. Cindy Lou Who arrived as I was packing up. Swimming in my bra and the compression shorts I wear under my skirt allowed me to rinse the sweat out of them too. Then I hiked another 2.5 or three miles as they also dried on my body. The water did wonders. I probably could have hiked longer¢I felt like it¢but now that I was again up on a ridge line, there weren't a lot of stealth sites and I didn't want to end up hiking a while lot longer. Plus there are good breezes up here. I stopped at 7 and let my damp sleeping bag air out. The last few days I've been hiking until 8 or 8:30 p.m., so it almost felt like I stopped too soon. Screech was looking for a site too, but he has a hammock and doesn't need a flat spot. This is the third night in a row that I am stealth camping alone.When I say stealth, it's not like I'm hiding. These are spots that people have carved out near the trail and just aren't official campsites. They aren't listed in the guidebook, but are generally present by streams and viewpoints. In tonight¢s situation, my head is only eight feet away from the trail. Thus far, nobody has passed by in the two hours I've been set up. There was no afternoon thunderstorm today, although there was a chance in the forecast. And the swim replaced the late afternoon coffee pickup. Watched the sunset through the trees and the lightning bugs are now out. A good day even if I didn't get as far as planned. And without the rain, my socks have been able to dry out and my hot spots are healing.