Date: 2016-06-10
From: Hightop Hut

To: Blackrock Hut
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: broken clouds

Some of the hikers I met today: War-Turtle, John-the-Baptist(seen N of Erwin), Nobie, Fiddlehead, Fancy-Pants, Sunshine(M), 4-Words & Rob, T-time, Mothly Stud, Little Debbie, Captain (Ger), Caboose, Voodoo, 2 section-hikers and 2 day-hikers, Moonshine, Sunshine(F), Westie (Topsham), Rock City, Hotrod, Slowpoke, Yackie (just leaving Pinefield Hut), Socket, a couple of day-hikers, Lee (or Li?), Teddy and Josh, Wheels, Olive (a dog) & Olive's-Human, Iron Will, Evergreen, Waldo, Capitol and Capital-One, Ranger, Liverpool, Odie, Gnome, 4 day-hikers searching for the rare Shenandoah salamander, Ranger (Another one from the same town in Kansas!), Tater, What-Temp & Patrice, Scorpion,1/2 hour trail work: downed black locust (hard). Yesterday, there was a similar one I couldn't cut. I saw 2 half-mile burned areas. It got a little hot in some places, but for the most part the big trees (oaks & hickories) were not damaged; so the shade was not that impaired. Of course, the little stuff on the forest floor was mostly wiped out; but many non-woody plants apparently didn't come up till after the fire. So re-growth is happening already in much of the area.It's actually quite nice hiking up here compared to Georgia -- less humid, the Trail is less rocky though mostly gravelly, and today, after some hills in the beginning is really fairly level. Right after I recorded that, I hit a spot that had more rocks & more poison ivy; but it was only short.The only wayside in this end of the Park is Loft Mtn., 1/2 mile off the Trail. The fire came fairly close to it, but no obvious damage. I went over to get a hamburger & blackberry milkshake & met Liverpool & Odie, representing The Hiker Yearbook.<Loft Mtn. Campground seemed to go on forever (3.5 miles!), & then it was still another 6 to Blackrock Hut. A group of day-hikers thought they saw a bear cub going up a tree next to the Trail. It turned out to be a racoon, a big one going way up to the treetop.The sun was going down, but not too fast till just before Blackrock (open rocks on a hilltop with some views), when it suddenly set behind an adjacent Mtn. About then, I encountered a man with 2 little (6-7-year-old) girls. He had a box of donuts to give to hikers but hadn't met any & was concluding that it was too dark to go down to the hut to give them out there. So he entrusted them to me. Going down the side-trail to the shelter was quite dark, & I fell just before getting there, but managed to preserve the donuts. The hikers there were happy to devour the donuts, but could find no space for me in the shelter or in the surrounding campsites. All the spaces were very slanted & rocky, & it was hard to check them out with only the red light working on my head-lamp [Its way of saying the batteries are low??]. A nice moon out, but it wasn't much help. I finally set up on a rocky site right next to another tent. With my air mattress leaking, it promises to be a hard night for sleeping. In addition, a nearby Whippoorwill kept going most of the night. Most birds [except owls] quit after dark & start again just before dawn, but Whippoorwills seem to call out any time during the night.