Date: 2014-04-25
From: Locust Cove Gap

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: light rain

Throughout the day,North Carolina gave us a little bit of everything weather wise. Our plan today was to to get to Cable Gap a Shelter which would set us up for a short day to get into Fontana Dam to do a little resupply before heading into the Great Smoky Mountains.    We awoke to a steady rain, I thought I dreamt of the rain but it was an actual reality. Sleep is gradually getting better as the days go, there's still an occasional waking up in the middle of the night but not as prevalent, last night I woke up in the middle of the night due to a pack of coyotes howling by the stream near the campsite.   Thankfully my tent has an awning so to speak so I keep my boots and backpack under there at night. I managed to pack everything up while in my tent and then quickly took down my tent so not to get it too wet. I hung the tent fly on the outside of my back so not to get everything in my tent soaked. I put a honeybun in my pocket and set off hiking with Delaware and Yogi. Yogi is a good guy from Kansas with a big personality and stories to tell, it'll never be quiet when he's around. He started off with big miles early on but ankle injuries have made him take a step back and slow it down a bit.    We hiked in the rain for while and in the distance beams of sunlight shone down on the mountain while we climbed higher up the mountain in the warm rain. The biggest challenge of the day was hiking up Jacobs Ladder which was an annoying, steep uphill that took you to the top of the mountain and no good view as a reward, there's apparently a lot of those on the A.T. The rain went on and off for awhile as we descended into Sweetwater Gap where there was a banana and apple on a picnic table with a sign for a politician next to them, I think we were being bribed.    So we begrudgingly hiked up Jacob's Ladder and headed into the Brown Fork Gap Shelter to have some lunch, Tim and James were there already while Guppy and Doctor Delicious showed up a bit after us. We all ate some lunch when a torrential downpour was let loose so we stayed in the shelter for about an hour.   The rest of the hike was pretty sweet. It was a gradual downhill hike that meandered around the outside of the mountain and out lower extremities thanked up for it. My knee is feeling a lot better as I've been using the combination of knee brace, Icy Hot, heat bandages and Ibuprofen throughout the day, so far it's a winning formula. We got into camp around four and there were only five people here and as the day progressed it swelled up to about twenty five people, it seems to be a combination of thru and weekend hikers. I got a good spot near the stream so hopefully that helps me fall asleep. We camped next to a guy named Hammock Jim who offered to bring us into town if we need more supplies than our at Fontana Dam. We all have a decent amount of food since we resupplied at the NOC a few days prior, I just need to pick up a few dinners and breakfasts.   It seems Mouse is going to take a zero day tomorrow to heal her legs a bit so hopefully I see her down the trail. There's still a bit of noise at 9:30 as the weekend and some thru hikers talk over a campfire. I probably should've went out there to talk, we haven't been pulling big mileage days and I'm not too tired so I sit in my tent writing these journals and do some reading, tonight I have the special treat of listening to Doctor Delicious battle his sleeping pad, it seriously sounds like he's wrestling a bear inside his tent. I got used to just hanging out with my hiking group that I really haven't branched out too much but I'm only fifteen days in, plenty of time to make new friends.                                                                                 Keepin' It Steady                                                                                                      P.S- A lot of people think Shea is my real name, it's pretty funny