Date: 2003-05-22
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: light rain

Woo-hoo! I just did my first 20 mile day!! I got up at 7 this morning, and said hello to Wanderer, who showed up at about 8 last night. He's a south-bounder, trying to get to Springer (or where ever he can) by June 21, as his brother is getting married then. I was able to do a little reading, both last night and this morning...I think I want to have at least one book with me out on the Trail. I miss reading. The day started out gray, but dry, at least for the first hour I was out. Then the wind kicked up a notch, and it started to drizzle...not the full-out rain of yesterday, but enough to keep me pretty well soaked. I had already decided that I would be consuming a hot lunch as soon as I got to the first shelter. The weather did not get me down today...the forest felt very surreal and mystical...or should I say "mist"ical. The greens of the forest are almost florescent in the rain and mist...very cool. I got to the shelter, Vandervinter, and pulled out my food ba!g and stove. I already knew what I was having...Lipton chiken noodle soup and Tang (can you say addiction?...what a sugar high!). I cooked up two envelopes of soup with the water for about one (concentrated salt and fat!), and added some hot sauce (picked up some packets at Taco Bell). Yum! Perfect with two big mugfuls of Tang. I had lunch with another south-bounder, Walkabout. She's from Australia, and did the middle portion of the Trail last year. She's doing the ends this year, and her mother is joining her for a month in the Whites in New Hampshire. She also made a big hot lunch...it was just the day for it. As I was getting ready to leave, the clouds blew away from the back of the shelter...there was a fabu view there! I had just written in the shelter register that I wished I could have seen the view that so many people had written about. I continued on through a corridor of blooming rhododendrons...gorgeous! I passed No Pepsi slack packing back south...he!'ll be in Damascus again tomorrow night. Hey, so will I! After another 20 mile day, that is. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. I was whizzing through at a whopping 2.5 miles per hour!! Can't stop and smell the flowers with that kind of raging speed! Actually, smell is the topic I'd like to discuss today. I could talk about how really incredibly bad my socks, boots and sleeping bag smell (Mom, are you SURE you want me to send it to you??), but I'd rather talk about how amazing the forest always smells. There are so many different scents...the Christmas-y smell of pines, the sweet smell of wildflowers, the smell of all the green leaves mixed with the earthy smell of soil. Talk about sensory overload! Sometimes it's overwhelming (in a good way!) to take in all the aromas. The rain can really bring them to life, too, so today was a really good smelly day! So, anyway, I was pushing for 20 miles, but stopped to get my register fix at the Iron Mountain Shelter. Read through at least 4 or 5 recent (within the last week) accounts of !bear sightings and grew paranoid! I quickly got my stuff packed up and took off, at my blazing new speed. The last 5 miles really were a blur...I was getting tired and it was getting darker. I knew I could reach the campsite before full dark, though. Just when I was getting a bit discouraged, I saw the campsite on the right...and Jason, Shelton, Thomas, Mission and Sage were here! It was nice to have some company...I really hadn't seen many people all day. I set up my tent, ate some cheese crackers and drank some Tang. We bear-bagged our food, and I headed to my tent...I'm tired! Have massaged my feet and cleaned up from the day's hike...time to get some sleep. Tomorrow, I do it all over again!