Date: 2017-09-28
From: Campsite near Beartree Gap Trail

To: Stealth Campsite beyond TN 91
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Late morning and I¢m eight miles south of Damascus, the 2,000-foot climb done, and I run into Evo, who¢s hiking northbound. He makes me eel like a second fiddle not once, but twice.I had just mentioned my wife¢s name after 5 minutes of conversation. ¢Oh, Frodo! You¢re the Scout with Frodo? Why she¢s famous!¢ He¢d heard of Frodo and her PCT Trail Angeling. That Scout guy, me, was chopped liver. (Frodo: Wow! That¢s weird! All our trail angelling is as a unit, almost Scoutandfrodo. And NO ONE thinks off you like chopped liver. Besides, you and I both really like chopped liver, especially on good fresh rye bread with onions and tomatoes ¢ yum!)And just before that it was, ¢Are you the Scout with Dot? I follow her YouTube videos!¢ He was crushed to learn that he¢d just missed seeing her by ten miles. ¢You were the one in her line dance video, right?¢ Again, second fiddle. But I¢m always willing to stand behind these great women. BEAR! Just before reaching the Abingdon Gap Shelter or lunch I thought I heard a tree branch fall and snap, and then the thump of another. I stopped, looked, and saw nothing moving on the ground. Then scrambling down a two-foot-bore tree trunk was a bear cub. It moved its four paws just as fast as the itsy-bitsy spider in the water spout. It was jet black and cute as the dickens. See it was a bear, not a BEAR. That¢s not to say that this cuddly ball of ursine flesh, if you held it on your lap, wouldn¢t _____ (Frodo: can¢t read this word, but ¢eviscerate¢ will do) your gullet or your guts with its scimitar claws. From 40 feet away it was cute. I walked on, singing ¢On Top of Old Smokey¢ just in case Mama was around.At the shelter at lunch, I had another animal encounter. John, whom I¢d first seen when Not-A-Moose was with me three weeks ago, was there with his trail dog, Blue. I had just sat down, removed my shoes and socks, and was taking my first bites when I felt a stick deposited across my feet. Blue had put it there. Blue looked at me with those big expectant eyes. ¢Pick it up, Scout. Pick it up.¢  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I entered my 12th state today. Even though Virginia was the longest trail state, I wasn¢t emotional. (What, Scout, not getting all worked up about it?¢ Frodo might say. (Frodo: I would never say that!)When I crossed my first AT state line leaving Maine after over 400 miles, I was moved to tears. But after the dozenth state, I wasn¢t all that moved. (I know, Frodo, ¢dozenth¢ may not be a word, but it should be.) (Frodo: It actually IS a real word!)(Frodo:  Here's a photo Scout included, of a restroom):  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...On the Continental Divide Trail, its informal motto or slogan is, ¢Embrace the Brutality!¢ For the AT my good friend Rolling Thunder adopted the tagline, ¢Embrace the Civility!¢ In Maine and northern New Hampshire the AT was as civil as a _____ . (Frodo: I really can¢t read this word, but I think he means it was the opposite of civil!) But the majority of the time since then, today included, the trail has been quite civil. This morning¢s 2000-foot climb was polite and had good table manners. The ups and downs, as we stayed high, were well-behaved children. Nice trail tread, and the recent blowdowns had all been cleared, too. Tennessee starts well.Three days till Frodo.