All we do is hike, hike, hike...

Quick live update: We are passing through Daleville VA this evening (6/2) and have hiked over 700 miles on the AT. I'm a bit behind on posting updates because cell signal (& good wifi, apparently) is very hard to find, plus sometimes all I really want to do is just eat and sleep. 😊 

5/10/17

• Miles traveled: 16.1
  
• Shelter: tent at mile 434.6
  

We headed out of the Black Bear cabin and into the woods. Damascus,Va in our future plans. The beginning of our day was amazing. We hiked around the Pond Mountain Wilderness, the Laurel Fork River and the trail ran right down to the falls. 

The trail was well maintained and unlike some terrain we have seen before. Steep rock walls and perfectly placed stones. 

We crossed quite a few bridges and followed a large creek through the mountains. 

All of lead that us to this...

It was roaring from the last few days of rain and it was beautiful. 

We tried to take a decent photo in front of the falls but the rocks were slippery and I didn't have my "clicker" yet so 10 seconds to run and pose was very awkward. Anyways. This turned out pretty good. 

This area was beautiful. The trail went right along the river on the rocks you can see Ziploc to the right on the photo below. 

 It was awesome. 

We hiked up and over Pond Flats. This was a 2,000 ft climb and immediate descent. There wasn't much of a view at the top and it was a LOT of work to get there. At the bottom of Pond Flats was Shook Recreation area on Watauga Lake. 

Beautiful view of Watauga Lake coming down the mountain.  

Ziploc took a dip in Watauga Lake. 

We crossed over Watuga Dam later in the day. The back side of the dam was a steep cliff and the front offered great views of the lake. 

5/11/17

• Miles hiked: 25.5!!! (Biggest day yet)
  
• Shelter: Tent at campsite 460.1

We had a great day! We woke up and got a move on. We knew we would be hitting Damascus soon days so we were excited to hike some miles. 

Early in the morning we hit Uncle Nick Grindstaff's grave. He was born 12/26/1891 and passed away on 6/22/1923. The epitaph on the grave read...

Lived alone, suffered alone and died alone. 

Haunting isn't it?

Looks like the trail has been well maintained in this area and it keeps us out of the mud and from slipping on wet wood. 

Later we came across some inmates working on a section of gate near the trail. It was a beautiful day. 

And then we walked into the most beautiful field. 

The trail winded around fields of wild flowers and then revealing the most amazing view of the valley. 

We continued from one field to the next for over a mile until ending up in a pasture. 

Ziploc making his way through the cows and cow patties. They moved out of the way for him. 

Adorable baby cows. 🐄

We hiked on into the woods. 

5/11/17

• Miles: 25.5!!!!
• Shelter: campsite at mile 460.1

Longest day on the trail so far. 

The terrain was very gentle today so we rocked it. The weather was nice and we knocked out miles with Damascus (and rain) in our plans for tomorrow. 

We walked ridges and down into gaps. The leaves are filling the forest with green so we didn't have many views today. 

I've started listening to audio books on my phone while hiking. It has definitely helped to pass the time and the miles. If you have any recommendations, send them my way. Ziploc still chooses to walk in silence. 

We walked all day and into the evening. We have been passing up tenting at the shelters lately. We are currently at the edge of "the bubble" which means shelters and campsites can be crowded. This leaves less than stellar campsites later in the day and more noise than we like. We grab water at the last stream or shelter and then walk on down the trail a mile or two further to a campsite. 

Today we picked up water at Abingdon Gap Shelter at about 7:30pm and we pushed on a little further. It was getting dark and we were expecting rain overnight so we wanted to settle in quickly. Coming around the bend in the trail we heard something BIG in the woods. We looked up and saw a bear crash to the ground from a tree. He was about 50 ft in front of us and he very quickly headed up the mountain, away from us. 

We were so excited. We finally saw a bear! We definitely agreed that it was the best scenario in which to see a bear. 

1. He saw us first and started moving away 
   
2. We saw him when we were hiking together (not alone)
   
3. He was headed in a direction completely different than our direction or the direction of the trail
   

We found a campsite and even set up before the thunderstorms came through. Excited from the day and what VA will hold for us soon!

You never know where you will end up.

5/5 & 5/6

• Miles traveled: 10 miles & a birthday ZERO
• Shelter: home, Valdese NC
• High point: JEANS, cotton socks, visiting with more family and friends
• Low point: feeling guilty about leaving all our fellow hikers in the snow and rain

When we woke up in our tent under the barn we realized it had stopped raining, finally. The sun was almost shinning but there was a chill in the air.





When we have cell service we try to check the weather as much as possible even though it is rarely accurate. We had been watching the weather for days and knew a cold front was coming. They were calling for snow at the higher elevations (right where we were).
Luckily I received a perfectly timed text message.

Lately we have been doing less "planning" and more "going where the trail takes us". We haven't been planning our days out or hitting a required set of miles. We have just been going until we are ready to stop and then we are done for the day. (Surprisingly, I am adapting well to this "less planned" lifestyle but more on that later.)
So... we opted out of snow and bad weather. Our trail angel/family friend/Russ' Godmother had offered to come and pick us up for the weekend and we took her up on it! We didn't have any other plans. My birthday was the following day. The weather was going to be pretty terrible, SO WHY NOT?!
We set a time to meet and then hiked 10 miles to meet Anita and Boyd. Those 10 miles packed a punch!
We started with Little Hump Mountain. The trail, on the left, goes all the way up the mountain in the "bald" spot and up into the clouds.

You can see Ziploc in the far left for size reference.

You can see the trail was a mess after all the rain. Hiking was very similar to trying to walk up a very soapy slip-n-slide.

The views were still amazing.


After we cleared Lil Hump Mountain it was on to Hump Mountain. More amazing views.

We have decided that this section of the AT from Carvers Gap to Hwy 19E (mile 378.9 to 393.7) would be an amazing weekend section hike. You would hike the balds, stay at the barn and catch all the views. It's on our list to revisit.
Anyways. After the balds we passed the LEAVING NC sign. We have been hopping the TN/NC boarder for almost 3 weeks. It's nice to have another state completely behind us, even if it is our home state.

We made it to Anita and Boyd and after a delicious lunch we headed home for two nights of rest.
Hiker trash comes home and airs everything out. Every thing stinks.

We visited with family and friends while we were home. We ate well and we relaxed. We also missed the snow and ice on the trail but we weren't too upset over that.

Happy to have this opportunity to visit with family and friends. Thank you to Anita and Boyd for bringing us back and Dad (Jay) for letting us in. 😂 We had no clue that morning that our day would bring us home... And it was just what we needed.

You're the only 10 I see.

5/7

• Miles hiked: 6
• Shelter: tent by the Elk River
• High point: the beautiful weather & crossing 400 mile marker
• Low point: Hot Sauce getting the bear bag stuck while "trying to help"

We hit the trail around 4pm on Sunday. Leaving home and civilization is always hard but the weather helped ease the pain. We meandered through fields and walked by Jones Falls. 

We ended the day by the Elk River. Ziploc fished while I set up camp. We usually set up camp together, each doing our specific tasks but I offered to set it all up tonight.  It went smoothly... the tent, the sleeping pads... until I got the bear bag toss bag stuck in the tree. Ziploc usually does this part without flaw. I knew I couldn't throw, I don't know why I tried. We fixed it and had a good evening by the river. 

5/8

• Miles hiked: 14.5
• Shelter: Tent site in meadow at mile 414.5

Woke up to a beautiful morning. We had a great nights sleep on a level surface. We usually sleep till about 7 am on the trail, but we woke up after 9 today. As we emerged from our tent, we saw that no one else around us had packed up, so we didn't feel too bad about sleeping in. 

We passed Mountaineer falls at mile 402 early in our hike. 

The butterflies have been everywhere. I guess it's that time of year. 

We are still catching views of Roan. 

5/9

• Miles traveled: 4
  
• Fish caught: 1
  
• Friends found: 4 out of 5
  
• Shelter: Black Bear outside of Hampton TN

We waited till the rain broke to take down the tent. It was warming up quickly but it was wet and foggy. 

Ziploc didn't have enough food to make it to Damascus (he eats so much) and I used all the fuel on grits and coffee this morning so we needed to hit the next town, Hampton TN.

We made a plan to hike 4 miles to Davis Cove Road crossing and check the hostel a half mile up the road for food and fuel. There were 2 hostels in different directions so we chose the one that said "Pizza". This is the rationale of a hiker. 

Side note: At this point we have reached "hiker hunger" stage. This is where we can eat and eat and eat and almost never get full. We are always in search of food. I will elaborate further on this in another post. 

As we walked up to Black Bear Resort at 11 am, I hear "HOT SAUCE!!!!" coming from the woods. It was Lil Veggie!!!! The crew (-1) had hiked a mile this morning and settled in at the Black Bear. It did NOT take them long to convince us to stay. Well that and the recently stocked creek that ran directly through the property. Ziploc saw the creek from a mile away. I have a feeling all our stops will be near water from here to Maine.

We stayed in the bunk cabin called Grandbob. It had electricity, a table & chairs and a queen sized bed. It was perfect. 

We hopped on the shuttle to town, grabbed our needed resupply and McDonalds. We "hiker trashed" up the post office (the appearance of being homeless but actually hikers) for a bit and headed back to the resort for relaxation and fishing.

It was a very good day.