Date: 2004-05-25
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: broken clouds

Me on Big Bald MountainStart: Hogback Ridge Shelter @ 0903 Finish: No Business Knob Shelter @ 2215Miles: 20.6Weather: Sunny/Partly Cloudy, Breezy, High 60¢s at elevation; 80¢s down low.Breakfast: Chocolate CIB, Strawberry Poptarts.Lunch: Snickers, Tortilla w/ PB & m&m¢s.Dinner: Hamburger Helper Double Cheese Pizza, Hostess cupcake, m&m¢s.Trail Conditions: Well maintained, several good climbs, rooty in sections.Animals: Squirrel, Insects, Hawk, Deer, birds, snake.People: Dayhikers, Ed & Crawfish, Sarah, Pop-up, Josh, Smack.I was somewhat sore from yesterday¢s hike, however, was very eager to get into Erwin¢¦.so big miles were the order of the day. I got a fairly late start, but that was OK. I was completely out of lunch snackies, so I only had some oatmeal and dinner entrees. The craving for food was another reason to get to town.Today¢s hike never seemed to end! Although I am loving my time on the trail, I just wasn¢t in a focused hiking mindset. All day I was hungry, thirsty, and kept dreaming of fast food in Erwin and a shower. I made decent time on the first half of the walk. I walked most of it alone. I arrived at the top of Big Bald ¢ which is incredibly beautiful and far better than Max Patch - and chatted with Ed and Crawfish. Smack arrived soon after and we kicked our shoes off and napped/tanned for about 2 hours. It was thoroughly relaxing. We plugged off to complete the final 11 miles around 3:00pm. Big Bald Mountain on the HorizonA top of Big Bald I realized I had lost my favorite Nalgene bottle! I have had that bottle for about 4 years and it has been on all my trips and with me nearly every day. I was very bummed. I left a note in the shelter register with hopes it may be found and mailed home. Backside of Big Bald MountainThe last half of the hike was pure hell. Although we had great conversation, we were both tired, hungry, and not in the hiking mood. Smack kept dreaming of Pizza Hut buffet. I wanted cupcakes. We finally arrived at Spivy Gap completely exhausted, with 5 miles remaining to hike, at about 6:00pm. We decided to cook dinner along side the road, and probably looked like hobos doing so. A person even offered us a ride, but we declined reluctantly. We were both so tired and hysterically frustrated that we just cursed as we cooked and ate. Smack had her cell phone, so we could order a pizza (which would have made us legendary along the trail), but there was no cell phone reception. Shucks.At about 2015 we started the last leg. The final miles were hiked in the dark along an uneven trail, which made for slow going. There were hundreds of fireflies out. It was neat how they illuminated the forest in random patterns. When we turned our headlamps off, it seemed like we were going warp speed. Completely spent we showed up at the shelter a little after 10:00pm. Fortunately there were only two others inside, so there was space to sleep. After walking a 1/4th mile downhill to the water source and chugging a few ounces, we called it a night. The balls of my feet ached so bad I couldn¢t sleep for about two hours.One Year Reflection