Date: 2017-05-29
From: Watauga Lake, US 321/TN 67

To: Iron Mountain Gap,TN 91
Miles today: 20.5

Today was a long hike,  but it went well.  Lizzie and I finished the 20.5 miles in almost exactly 10 hours: a little over two miles per hour.  Arlene and Bill finished in under 12 hours.  And Rennie was way ahead of everyone else as usual.  Warren characterizes the Appalachian Trail as having "rhythms."  From Springer Mountain to Watauga Lake, the trail is roughly half up and half down. For the next 1600 miles it is about one-third up, one-third flat, and one-third down.  This was our first day hiking in this terrain, and it was noticeably less difficult than most of the places we've hiked so far.  Lizzie is now staying with the rest of the group at the Folk School so we all started hiking at the same time.  We left at 5 AM to allow time for a breakfast stop.  I haven't eaten breakfast at McDonald's in many years, and I was amazed at the high calorie count for the menu items.  I had a sausage biscuit and orange juice for about 600 calories - good for me because I'm trying to keep up my weight but pretty bad for a person of normal physical exercise. Even so, I was ravenous after only three hours.  Rennie told me last night that he'd hike with me today.  We started out with Lizzie also.  I had had a substantial amount of coffee, not to mention real food, so I started out at a faster than usual pace in the lead.  (I'm the slower hiker, so if he wanted to hike with me he had to go at my pace.). The hike first followed the shoreline of Watauga Lake.  This is a flood control lake built by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s.  Because it was created by flooding, the shoreline is irregular and winds around quite a bit.  Then the trail crosses one of the dams and heads uphill to a ridge.  The rest of the hike was along a ridge that was mildly undulating up and down.  Lizzie and I made a number of stops early on, and by mile six Rennie gave up on us and went ahead.We kept up a good pace, occasionally stopping to look out over the lake. Because the trees are fully leafed out there were not many places where we could get a view of the lake.  Around 10 o'clock we reached a shelter that was up high and had a nice view.  We were both hungry, so we stopped and had lunch.  I had a much more substantial lunch than usual: whole wheat tortilla with pepperoni and cheddar cheese wrapped in it, baby carrots, and a Heath bar.  I had many more snacks with me, but I didn't eat them all.  This distance is still a challenge for us, and I was fading, so Lizzie took the lead and we churned out the miles to the end.  We were in altered states.  Lizzie says she just zones out and goes.  I think my mental state is similar.  Toward the end nothing matters but finishing.  We did see one interesting landmark, Nick Grindstone's Monument (see photo). Apparently Nick finished out his life, after earlier disappointments, atop the mountain with his pet dog and pet snake.  The monument is the remains of a brick fireplace.  On what would have been the open side there is a gravestone with his name and dates.  Below that is the epitaph, "Lived alone, suffered alone, died alone."  Guess he didn't think much of his dog.  In front of the monument is what appears to be a big cement crypt.When we arrived at the end I recognized the trailhead as the place I very first set foot on the Appalachian Trail just a year ago.  The first several miles of tomorrow's hike will cover that same ground.  I remember last year's hike as being at the peak of the spring wildflower season.  I'm a week later this year, but I still expect it to be lovely.  Tomorrow we hike 21.5 miles and finish the state of Tennessee.   By the way, Rennie thinks I'd look just like Ma Kettle if only I had a corn cob pipe.  My poor hat got tossed in the dryer by accident and is permanently rumpled.  My suspenders hold up my pants when pockets are filled with snacks.