Hemlockin'
The moutains were calling this morning, and I answered. It was time to say goodbye to Erwin, TN, and to begin my march to Kincroa, which will represent the start of the final approach to Damascus, Virginia.
I was on trail by 9:50AM thanks to Uncle Johnny, it was a good time to hit trail.
The weather finally cooperated today, it was the first time in almost three days that I was not walking in a cloud, it made for a delightful day on the Appalachian Trail.
I did a lot of uphill hiking today, or so it seemed. Beauty Spot was quite nice, it was my first decent view in three days. It was a balmy 55 degrees when I rolled through.
I also walked through a 100 year old Hemlock(maybe Fur) tree foresy. The terrain and scenery reminded me of some of the "flatter" sections of the "100 Mile Wilderness" in Maine. The tall trees had enough leaves upon them to block out the sun. It was incredible.
Once I arrived at route 107, seven miles south of the shelter, I met a man by the name of Kurt. Kurt was waiting for his brother, the Preacher. Kurt offered me some soda and water, which I gladly accepted. Trail magic is quite wonderful. Thank you Kurt, and I wish the Preacher all the best on his section hike.
I should mention that I spent most of the day hiking with Ken Anderson. We spent most of the day discussing somewhat random things and cursing the Tennessee Eastman Hiking and Canoeing CLub for not believing in switchbacks. They must have received trail maintaining advice from the Maine Appalachian Trail Club.
I rolled in the shelter just before 6PM to find that Cookie was the only person there. It seems we have found a void in the thru hikers, which was our objective when we did some of the larger mile days previously.
Tomorrow I shall march to Overmoutain Shelter, which is actually a large barn. 12 miles is my sentence, giving my body a little rest.
Mother natures looks like she is preparing to unleash her fury, which is fine by me because I am in a shelter.
I am on trail until furthur notice, my dad has assured me everything is fine for now. We are on the same page, and he knows to tell me straight up if he thinks I should leave trail.
Attention future thru hikers:
If you are currently a Sprint customer, I suggest you switch to Verizon before hitting trail, you will have a much easier time getting a non-roaming signal.
Well, I think I shall try to call my dad, then I shall do some reading.
Good night, and good luck.
Kirby
Ga>ME 2008.
