Date: 2004-04-20
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 13.7

Day 384.20.046:45pmToday was a day of extremes and variety. Extreme variety. Hit the 300-mile plateau around 2pm. Wohoo! Called it quits early today at 4:15, when I encountered Badger and Papa Bear at a campsite along the AT. On the AT would be more accurate. Skirt actually set her tent up a few minutes ago, smack dab on the AT, lengthwise. Screw up things for any purist who happens upon us tonight. We all encouraged her to stay, so the blame doesn¢t rest on her. Here tonight, in a campsite meant for maybe 2 tents, are: me, Papa Bear, Badger, Skirt, Cuppa Joe, The Honeymooners (Mark & Kim). Quite cozy. My day started at 6am, when I woke to the sound of an owl hooting in the dawn. (Forgot to write yesterday -- saw a deer and my second coyote -- this one a yellowish-brown, golden retriever color. He took off before I could even react.) Didn¢t drag myself out of my bed until 7 though. Could tell it was going to be a cloudy day. Kept my fly open all night. Nice to finally have a warmer night, not spent shivering in my sleeping bag. When I did finally rise, I had to fetch water, since I neglected to complete that errand last night. Had breakfast and set out on the trail by 7:45. The climb up to Camp Creek Bald was a killer. My shirt was soaked, the sweat pouring off me. And it wasn¢t even warm out. Humid, though. Could tell rain was in the air. Skirt was just packing up when I got to the top. She¢d spent last night searching for the tenting spot those day hikers spoke of. She went up to the top but got freaked out by the X-Filean nature of it. We hiked up this morning. Couldn¢t have been further out of place, these giant cell towers or repeaters or whatever, generators humming, out in the woods. And the tower had all this razor wire around it. So inviting. Skirt and I hiked down from the bald about a mile and lo and behold -- saw the infamous campsite. Cooked some Annie¢s mac-and-cheese (yum), before continuing on. Ran into some overnighters, near a sign ¢Bad Weather Trail [blue blaze] Exposed Ridge [white blaze]¢. Wasn¢t entirely sure what it meant, but the rain seemed to be holding off. The ridge section, a new relocation, was awesome. Scrambling over boulders, up and down, rock steps. Pretty cool. Mountains and forested valleys to the east. Flat farmland to the west. Amazing contrast. Made it to Jerry¢s Cabin Shelter by noon. Hung around for 45 minutes. Guess who was sitting there? Yertle and Kickstand. Apparently, they decided to push on to the shelter last night, arriving at 1:15am. Can¢t imagine going over those rocks in the dark. They asked if there were views up there. All they saw were lights from the city. I don¢t think I¢m ready for night hiking yet. But, the 6 miles to the next shelter were fast and easy. One climb over Big Butt, then downhill the rest of the way. Finished my hike today at 4:15. Could have pushed on further, but it¢s nice to lounge about. Gives me time to write leisurely, socialize, spend time over dinner (yeah right, once the food is in front of me, it¢s gone). Plus, I can¢t make it into Erwin until Friday morning anyway, unless I put in 2 very long days. But I won¢t, so why bother killing my feet. Takin¢ it easy, hangin¢ out w/ the hiker folks. Getting too distracting to write¢¦