Date: 2016-05-21
From: Four Pines Hostel

To: Cambell Shelter
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: clear sky

Last night was a different kind of night to say the least. I was told this morning there were over thirty hikers in the three car garage where I stayed and another ten in the barn. It rained all night so I was very grateful for the warm quarters. I ended up sleeping on this very old dirty coach and it was actually pretty comfortable. I put my ear plugs in and then I put swimmers wax on the outside of my ears. So I had double ear protection from the snorers. I was hopeful it would work. However at 3:30am I was awoken to double barrel load snoring. Two guys snoring away very loudly. It kept me awake for a while, but eventually I did fall back to sleep until around 6:00am when people started milling around. Shortly after that and I eventually got up. I was in no big rush to leave as I was planning a short 10.7 mile hike. Most of the others hikers were going to slack pack all the way to Daleville. Slack packing is when you have most of your gear and pack sent ahead and then you only hike with what you need for the day. It is a good way to carry a lot less weight and make big miles. I was going to camp a half a mile from McAfee Knob and then hike seventeen miles into Daleville the next day. I ate breakfast and talked with other hikers. I eventually left around 9:00am. The morning hike was very wet and muddy as every morning hike has been lately. I was quickly passed by Verge and Legs who were slack packing. I stopped and took a break with Farmer. It was good to talk to him. He hiked he Continental Divide Trail last year and we talked quite a bit about that. That trail is over three thousand miles long. After my break I pushed on. I hiked slowly during the morning as I had such a short day in store. There was no reason to push it. Once I got to the only big climb of the day I decided to pick up the pace. The weather called for clouds, fog, and thunderstorms by mid day, but the weather was looking better and the sun kept peaking out. I wanted to get up to the famous McAfee Knob before the storms rolled in. I made it there around 12:30pm. I was bummed because it was all foggy. No views. I took some pics anyways and decided to just hang up there. The shelter I was staying at was only a half a mile away so there was no reason to hurry there. I spent the next three plus hours at the Knob taking to people and just relaxing. Sure enough the fog also lifted and all the surrounding mountains appeared. I took two more rounds of photos. I met this guy who goes by Doobs. A super nice guy. He had a professional camera and took photos of me at the famous spot on the Knob and said he would email them to me next week. It was a great afternoon and I am so glad I did not slack pack. It was just gorgeous up there. Eventually I hiked down to the shelter and set up camp. I set up with Tick Talk, Lou, and Julie. Rucker was also at the shelter as was Doobs and seven or eight others. We all talked and hung out in between the few good rain showers we had late in the day. I had two dinners. Maybe I am finally getting the hiker hunger that I keep hearing about. We also had two deer visit our camp site. They just walked right in. They did not seem very afraid of us. I took some pics of them as they walked around. Tomorrow I am hopeful I can get up around 5:00am and go back up a half mile to McAffe Knob to see the sun rise. All accounts say it is awesome. I hope it is clear and not cloudy. Today was another very good day. It was beautiful and I am very grateful for it.