Good
night’s sleep last night, though the zero degree bag is becoming too
heavy. Decided to do 13.6 miles. The first 7.6 were pretty easy. Then at
the shelter, after lunch, Dave and Murph wanted to hang out for a
while, so I pushed on.
It
was a pretty tough uphill climb in the hot North Carolina sun. Was
rewarded with a beautiful 360 degree view from the top of a fire tower.
And
just before the shelter, I found the path to the water. I was really
hoping for more of a stream than a puddle or a trickle. And I was
psyched to find ice cold water gushing from a pipe in the side of the
mountain.
I grabbed a Nalgene and started pouring the precious liquid on
top of my overheated head. It felt so good, but inevitably led to brain
freeze. Gave the hair a quick washing. Heaven.
It’s dry tonight, so the tent will air out. Possible thundershowers, though. Five miles down to Wesser in the morning.
Hot
day -- supposed to get up to 85, so the going was slow at first. Didn’t
get to the first campground til 5. I was ready, willing, and able to do
the two miles to another spot, but no one else was interested. Just
chillin’ out here. Still no trail name for me. Dave is Longshanks, after the character in The Lord of the Rings and his long limbs (Did I
say that already?)
P.S. -- Saw a number of rabbits driving to and from the Winters’ house. That’s the most wildlife we’ve seen so far.
Anecdote
-- We met this man Nighthawk and his black dog Shadow at the shelter
after Kelly Knob. He’s in his 40’s, salt and pepper hair, goatee, a
little rough around the edges, smokin’ weed. Wasn’t shy about telling
everyone he ran out of dog food, and Shadow was “starving.” Anyway,
someone told us later that Nighthawk is a vet. Dave seemed to find this
very surprising. I didn’t -- he looked around the right age, right
demeanor. It turns out Dave thought he was a veterinarian. Ha ha.
It
was a pretty tough uphill climb in the hot North Carolina sun. Was
rewarded with a beautiful 360 degree view from the top of a fire tower. 
