Day 20- I was up and at ‘em again this morning and was sure to eat my oatmeal (for some energy hopefully) before I left. I made good time my first three miles and actually saw 2 deer. The last 6 plus miles were grueling, with lots of boulder climbing and tree jumping, and lots of mud which made walking slower and more precise (so I don’t slip). It continued to rain through the mid morning and when I got to Round Bald, what a sight!

When I got to the shelter I was starving so I made a quick peanut butter tortilla roll up and later made supper. I was glad to see the same people from the night before. Tadpole, from Nashville, was here and Roy from Savannah. No Eyes made it here too, he is a nice kid. The sun started shining and felt good.  Around 5:00 pm or so we had thunderstorms, sun, rain, and now more rain. The air is pretty cool so I am in my bag to keep warm and try to stay dry and not muddy. People keep showing up and the shelter is full, a couple of them are from Fontana and like to party but there is a ridge runner here and he’ll take care of that. A ridge runner works with the Forestry service for a certain length of trail to make sure things are okay and you are doing what you should be doing.

I should make it to Newfound Gap in a couple of days. It will be the hardest day with a climb up to Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the AT. I hope to get to Gatlinburg to resupply, wash clothes, and eat. Tomorrow should be the last day for rain. Not much happened today except for awesome views. I will try to get enough service to send the pictures, if not then I will later. I am going to snuggle into my bag and try to get some shut eye. Good night and sweet dreams!

Day 17- Last night got a little chilly on my feet so instead of pulling things out, I remembered my gloves were still in my pocket so I put them on my feet. Problem solved. I did eat some oatmeal this morning. I am trying to eat my calories as I can really tell a difference when going uphill. This morning, I actually got to the top of Sassafras Mtn. (Yes, there is one here too). The view was worth each breathless step. Now onto Jacob’s Ladder. It is what it implies, up and then down, up and then down. This went on well after lunch. I was determined to get to the second shelter which was a lot of miles and I did it! I got the tent set up, heated water for my 4 cheese mashed potatoes, which were yummy, by the way, threw my bear bag (not in an ideal location), and refilled my water all before the rain came. I imagine it will be sometime tonight. I am sleeping on a slant so I will be in a ball at the foot of the tent tomorrow. That is one disadvantage of getting to a shelter later…all the good spots are taken.

I won’t have many miles to go in the rain tomorrow before I get to Fontana Dam. Hopefully I can get some more good, big meals, then it’s off to the Smokies! I feel good about the time it took to get this far, so no complaining here. Larry and I camped at the foot of the dam once and all I could think about was wonder how long it would take to cover us with water if the dam broke. It is a site to behold! I talked to Salsy today, we had just passed each other the day before. She is a red head from Biloxi, MS, originally from Kentucky. She took my picture at the top of the mountain. One thing about her is she will take a break when it gets to be so much and relax.

Today was another beautiful day for that. So beautiful in fact that when another girl passed me she suddenly stops and excitedly says, “Did you see that snake”? I winced and uttered, “Is it coming at me”? She said no and then I had to look, yuck, I could have done without that. It was a youngster so it meant there were more. So now I really had to watch out for them since it was so warm. At lunch break with several others from the night before, this guy comes up and says, “that’s the ugliest hat I have ever seen (I had my Clemson cap on). There was a guy at the Pancake breakfast with the same gosh awful hat”. I just said that guy must have been awesome. He must have been an Bama fan still muttering about my hat as he left.

Moon pie showed up too, she is the rugby player from Clemson. Every time I say her name I want a moon pie! Well I know Pine Needle made it almost this far because a guy passed me saying some guy about a mile back didn’t have on shoes. He thought he was crazy. I hope he can stay warm and dry tonight wherever he is. It is starting to rain and the wind has picked up. I am not sure what I will do when I get to Fontana Dam tomorrow. Probably after a night in the shelter I will start on the Great Smoky Mountains. You have to be through there in 8 days or they will fine you. It’s getting pretty late for hiker time so Good night and Sweet Dreams!

Day 16 – I thought it would be a full hostel bunk bed kinda night since they said it was full, but little did they know there were only 3 girls in this bunk house. Lying beside the thunderous Nantahala River and no snoring gave the best sleep I think I have had in a while! I grabbed some food in the grocery store there this morning and shared a table with Tiger Lily from Ohio. She has four kids and has always wanted to hike the AT. We wound up hopscotching each other the rest of the day until getting to the shelter. Today has pretty much been an uphill challenge. Challenge because there were obstacles in the path’s way like large trees, crazy rock formations and uphill because it was ALL uphill. The first big tree I came to I figured it would be easier to go over it than climb up a slick bank and back down. So I hiked my leg as high as I could and threw it over and found myself laying face down, straddling, and hugging this huge tree. I am so glad no one came around the bend! I slowly slid down the other side, picked up my poles and went my merry way like it was all planned that way. All in all a beautiful warm day and getting to be a very chilly night.

Not far from the beginning of the hike I had stopped by a creek to fill my water bottle and this voice comes from behind and asks,” Are you Flying Tiger”? I turn around to see who has caught up with me, answer yes, and realize I haven’t met her before. She is friends and went to high school with my niece Shawn from Maine. In this huge world, who would think you could run into a stranger in the woods that knows you and a family member all from a Clemson ball cap hanging from your pack. My name precedes me, uh-oh! A wonderful surprise. They were Willow and Silver Lining living in Dallas but thinking of moving back to Maine when they get to Mt Katahdin. We had a nice chat and I hope to run into them again!

I finally arrived at the shelter ready to rest my tired legs, eat some good freeze dried spaghetti with an expiration date of 2048 for some calories (it wasn’t that bad either). While eating I got to talking to a UCF grad who wants to continue on to nursing school or a PA degree. His granddad graduated from Clemson and they had found some really nice Clemson relics in his things after he passed away recently. We talked on about a lot of things. I finished, cleaned up and hung my first bear bag. It went without a hitch I must say. It’s probably not high enough but most trees here go straight up without side branches. I ran into Tiger Lily who was about to use the privy for the first time and she kept searching the trees for a big one that she would rather hide behind for her business. I thought it was comical. The people here were new and awesome.

I sat at the amazing fire and a barefoot kid sat down to cook his food on the fire and lo and behold it was Pine Needle. He got his name because he drinks pine needle tea, sometimes with hemlock. He is a vegetarian from California who hitches to Wilmington, NC, to visit his dad every 6 months or so. He is very knowledgeable about the edible plants, mostly in CA though. There is also a mom, two daughters and two sons here. The Mom and 13 year old will be leaving at weeks end (spring break), and the others will continue on. That would be a neat experience! Moon Pie, from FL was also here and she too is a Clemson grad. She played rugby while at school. I got a lot of Clemson recognition today, mostly them yelling out “Go Tigers”. Although the hills, 4710 elevation, were tough at times, it’s been a good day! I hope yours has too! Good night and Sweet dreams!

Day 14 -The day was beautiful! Franklin had a metro bus, big van, that would shuttle you to the trailhead. When I got on there were Clammy and the rest of the Ninjas. I had planned on just hiking to the second shelter at Wayah Bald but it was too crowded with the most unfriendly group of people (we have run into them before). So I chose to move on to the 3rd shelter where probably Clammy and them were. Still not sure because they were in their bags already. It’s either them or the younger group with Shaggy from Clemson. Fortunately I didn’t have to walk too far in the dark. The sun tried to hang in there but finally gave up when I saw a light ahead.. the shelter!! I was so happy and set up the tent in the dark with my headlamp. I did a poor job hanging my bear bag so we will see if I have food tomorrow.

Earlier at Siler Bald, I popped out onto a clearing that went way up a hill with beautiful views I am sure. I chose to admire the bald while I ate my lunch. Pine Needle showed up and he was wearing shoes, but took them off to climb the hill. He said he got real cold last night. It’s pretty freezing right now but I will finish this first. I am snuggled up in my bag. On the biggest hill which is around 4900 foot elevation, I sang 100 bottles of beer on the wall and still had to sing other stuff to get to the top! Normally when you get to the top you will start descending before you get to a shelter. I believe God stuck this one literally on the trail! Thank you!

I have seen some amazing birch trees. Each time I pass one I tell them how beautiful their roots are. Their silver skin shines like magic in the sun. It’s almost like a fairy tale. Now that I got this far today I should be able to make it to Fontana Dam on schedule. It’s supposed to rain then, so I would really like to get there. There is a really cool rock tower at Wayah Bald. They had a picture labeling the mountains and right there was Greenville, SC! At least now it looks so far away. I am starting to shiver so I will snuggle in this bag and see if it can do it’s job! Good Night and Sweet Dreams!