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!