ElizabethClose

May 18 - Left Hot Springs by noon. Lovely sunny day. Stopped at Post Office on my way out and decided a deli sandwich might be a good idea. Pickle tasted like heaven! Pretty walk along river and then crazy goat path up the cliff into the burn zone. Hiked through blackened and semi-blackened areas all day-kinda yucky and smelled smoky. Got up to Rich Mtn Fire Tower hoping for sunset pics but fog rolled down the trail as I was hiking up. Camped by Shatterproof, little Beard, big Beard and Counselor. Cant remember all the conversation but remember laughing more than I've laughed for along time. 8 miles


May 19 - Rain overnight and still misty in morning so got a late start. Got a couple cool pics of solitary trees in mist. Thick fog lasted until afternoon then mixed with drizzle...bleaugh. Saw Currytoe at lunch stop and wished her happy birthday. Trying to make it to next shelter and Nathan came up behind with no rain gear on. I got out my GPS to decide if I would make camp or push on to shelter ... took FOREVER to boot up and then showed shelter was .1 miles ahead. If we had kept walking we'd have been there already- HAHA. Small shelter and there was a break in rain so I decided to set up hammock. Clarity came in at dark so she had room in shelter. 12 miles


May 20 - Rain blew sideways overnight and pushed my rainfly into the side of my hammock blessing me with a wet hammock, wet sleeping bag, wet underquilt. No sun but I strung a line and hung gear out to dry in the wind while visiting with shelter denizens. Still foggy when I got started at 11. Took bad weather bypass trail instead of exposed cliff trail (good idea!!) and saw quail hen flopping around in underbrush a few feet ahead. Stood still a minute and watched all the chicks scurrying for cover ... so cute! Incredibly slippery trail so decided to stop at next shelter and sleep inside. Started to sleet - glad I stopped! Couple people told of falling on trail, broken glasses, broken poles ... I am so thankful I haven't fallen (yet?) Guy came in late with his dog and I said I hoped the dog would not jump up all muddy/stinky. Nice dog, just didn't want to sleep with him! 7 miles


May 21 - MORE RAIN... almost all the hikers from shelter were going to hostel so I opted to stop at next shelter and ensure roof over my head. Three guys stopped in at lunch and talked about their upcoming hike in Hawaii - sounded epic! Bear and Hopalong came in later and we took advantage of the sunny moment to hang out wet clothes. Hopalong had face-planted on trail earlier and was all muddy. Pack was too heavy to stand so she had to crawl to tree to stand up. Good reminder to go SLOW and mind your steps. It sarted to rain a couple hours later so we grabbed lines and strung them in shelter. I rigged my rain fly over the shelter opening to block some wind. Surprising how much difference that makes in temperature. 6 miles


May 22 - Up and out early. Eyes all goopy, not sure what caused that. Cheerfully no rain. Trail was treacherous. Incline after 309 was so bad my shoulders hurt from pulling myself up by my poles. Got to clearing near Street Gap and decided to camp. Golliver camped too, he had been going slow and waiting for Shatterproof and Co. to catch up after their side-trip to trail days. Hot dinner felt good as it had turned cold. Lost my bear bag carabiner so Golliver hung mine with his. 14 miles


May 23 - Rained overnight but my gear dried by morning so I got up and out by 7:30. Not much to say about today except mud, mud, mud ... got to shelter before dark and got hammock set up. Hopalong and avocado came in at dark, they had done 21 miles- impressive! I'm happy with my 15 miles


May 24 - Quick downhill 6 miles to Erwin. Hot sun in the pines smelled great and overlooks of the river now and then during the descent. I stopped at Uncle Johnny's hostel to recharge my totally dead phone and grab some snacks. Lots of hikers from shelter opted for shower and the all-You-can-eat salad/pizza shuttle (tempting, i gotta admit!) I managed to get back out in 90 minutes and got up to first shelter for dinner where three guys from previous night were hanging their 3 hammocks on the same 2 trees. Not sure if there was a bee tree nearby or just a lot of bees working the Rhododendrons, but it was quite noticable. I decided to get a couple more miles in and headed up trail until I found a stealth site. Sebastien(German kid) and his dog Leo camped there for the night. 12 miles


May 25 - Up and out by 7. Didn't see anybody almost all day. Sunny until 4 then started to rain at 6, hiked another two miles to next water source and rain let up enough for me to get hammock hung while dry-ish. Nice to be in dry clothes, in warm sleeping bag, laying comfortably while listening to the patter of rain on the rain fly. 15 miles


May 26 - Another quiet day. leap-frogged with Houston girl in hiking skirt and some section hikers. Stopped at shelter for dinner and guys from triple decker hammock experiment came in - gave them my email so they could send me a pic of the hammock thing. Met Froggyright 2 miles Roan Shelter and we talked the whole way there. Miles definitely went by faster. Shelter approach trail was very creepy, but I wanted to stay at the highest Shelter on AT. Hung hammock, cabin was creepy LOL. 15 miles


May 27 - Woke at 4 to clear skies and decided to go for it...packed up and headed out by 6. Carvers Gap by 7:30-amazing 360 degree view ... actually pretty fabulous views all day. Lots of climbing and several balds with views from Yellow Gap through Roan Highlands. Sunny/Cloudy so I didn't bother to stop and put on sunscreen. I'm going to pay for that error in judgement Im afraid. I got to hostel by 5:30 - tent space only so I showered and did laundry, charged electronics and set up hammock - 17 miles


May 28 - Memorial Day weekend! Funny how time becomes insignificant. I didn't even realize what weekend it is. Talked to family this morning and they told me how several people from my hometown of Towanda,PA are following my posts here - so "HI FELLOW TOWANDIANS" I'd love to be somewhere with a beer and a hamburger this weekend! Have one for me :-) - 0 miles