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.