Date: 2005-05-08
From: Rt. 321/Hampton

To: Campsite beyond Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: few clouds

Fixed breakfast in the kitchen and decided that my return of this excellent trail service would be to wash all the dishes in the sink. That done, I hastily threw my pack together for the shuttle. Sutton was only a few minutes late and I found myself on the Trail at 7:15. Vermont decided to partake of breakfast in town so he won¢t hit the Trail until after 8. I¢m sure he¢ll catch up. Not a real comfortable start to the day which reeks of summer-like early morning humid heavy air. The Trail snakes around Watauga Artificial Lake and seems to take forever with many small but annoying ups and downs. Passing the side trail to Watauga Shelter, I saw Sunshine who said her mother had already moved on. En-route to the dam, I was passed by Cracker (I learned his name later); we would pass each other several times that day. After the dam begins a PUD before the Trail finally enters the woods for good. Part of the PUD follows a paved road (Watauga Lake Rd.) and in the grassy area besides the road was Shakedown in his campsite. He had hiked until 10 last night before calling it a day. We talked a while; I know he¢ll pass me shortly.The ascent was slow to start but I finally got in gear and began hitting my stride. All the while, views of the artificial lake are present. I thought how SOBOers would catch their first glimpse of the artificial lake and think they were close, not realizing they had 8 Trail miles left.It was at Vandeventer Shelter where I met Insanely Grateful waiting for Sunshine to catch up. We conversed a while. She¢s one of the very few people who, when I mention my daughter serves in the Peace Corps in Niger, knows where Niger is. She lived in Mali for a while. Sunshine¢s only hiking with her for a few weeks but they¢re having a great time. Later arrivals at the shelter were Elf, Cracker, Sunshine, and the Jersey Girls.Turbo Joe had told me the water situation at Vandeventer wasn¢t viable and he was correct. So the water¢s getting low but hopefully the spring 4 miles later will satiate us. I arrived at the spring to find Shakedown filling his water and having lunch. Good water in a nice grassy setting ¢ perfect for a campsite but of course it¢s too early. Some of the others ¢ Grateful, Cracker ¢ arrived at the spring before I left.Talked with Shakedown some more on the way before he got ahead of me. He¢s sort of between jobs now. Upon hearing I had worked for EPA, we both began bashing Bush and the Republicans. He said he¢ll go to work again when the Democrats take control!I¢m continuing to make good time. The humidity of earlier had dried up some and it wasn¢t a bad day for walking. Of course, hiking at the higher elevations above the artificial lake made for more compatible hiking conditions. At 4,000 feet, the change is noticeable: mostly bare trees contrasting with full foliage back in Hampton. Also, the forest floor for the last few days has been littered with mayapples, one of my favorite spring flowers. In fact, I have several stands of them in my back yard at home.So it¢s only 3:00 when I reach Iron Mountain Shelter and I¢ve already decided to go on further. As it turns out, all of the others I¢m hiking with in parallel are also doing that. At Iron Mountain Shelter were KTR and the Professor, the latter a different ¢Professor¢ than the one I met in the snows of Virginia last March. I recognized KTR¢s name from Trail Journals. Also at the Shelter was a resident kitty (wait until I tell Laurine, Sandra, and Alicia!) who presumably kept the rodent population in check.I don¢t believe I¢ve ever been in a shelter where in the 3:00-4:00 timeframe, 5 different hiking parties are cooking their dinners ¢ Cracker, Elf, Grateful & Sunshine, KTR, and me. But that¢s not surprising in that all of us except KTR and the Professor were planning to move on. Gave Grateful some garlic cloves which enhanced the mashed potatoes she was making. The kitty curled up beside me while I was fixing dinner but I didn¢t take it too personally ¢ every time a new arrival appeared, the kitty latched on to him/her to mooch.Left the shelter at 4:20 in no hurry. Grateful and Sunshine had already left. I¢ll just walk until I feel like stopping, at least 1.4 miles to the next spring. Every mile I do today means less tomorrow and Tuesday. After filling water from the spring, I only walked one-tenth of a mile when I found a perfect campsite. On the right side, level, just enough space for one tent, an eastern exposure through a short thicket of rhododendron. So that was my abode for the night. Cracker, Elf, and Walrus (who had caught up at Iron Mountain Shelter) passed me by. I half-expected Vermont and maybe Turbo Joe to some sauntering by but no. A pleasant evening was punctuated by refreshing cool temperatures and a beautiful night sky & sunset.