Astrogirl

6 May 2005, Friday ~ 28.9 miles (no, really!)

So, a bunch of us hiked 30 miles today to get to Damascus, well, today. As it turns out, we needn’t have bothered because the entire town is full. It took at least an hour to find that out. I finally decided to give up and start driving home, stopping for a hotel when I needed to.

I stopped at the Relax Inn at Rural Retreat. I’ve stayed there before, and it’s clean and cheap and pleasant.

5 May 2005, Thursday ~ 21.3 miles

Big day with a big totally pointless climb. Ridge over Watuga was great though — view all the way down the ridge overlooking the lake for *miles*. Too many trees to get a good shot with a Camera though.

Big Campfire here because again, it is very cold. Pond Mtn was a total PUD.

4 May 2005, Wednesday ~ 17.6 miles

Great place. Didn’t write a damn thing while I was there. I had steak and salad for dinner, which was perfect.

3 May 2005, Tuesday ~ 17.1 miles

It was unbelievably cold at Overmountain Shelter. It would have ben anywhere though. There were frost heaves all the way up Hump Mountain. It was a fabulous bald and I took a little movie because the 360′ view demanded it. A TN guy named Prometheus had a hiker feed at 19E today. That road corssing and the area around it has a bad rep because the locals (supposedly) hate hikers.

The weather today was wonderful. I hiked with Bravo most of today, and I think we’ll hike into Kincora together tomorrow as we seem to be hiking the same speed. He’s a thru-hiker from Norfolk, ex Navy, wife is on the Enterprise, also Navy (duh).

Getting too cold to write. Jones Falls was also beautiful!

Note from 2007: there is now a shelter here!

2 May 2005, Monday ~ 14.5 miles

Roan was not the million dollar view I expected, but there were some great views from the knob South of Ash Gap and from Little Rock Knob.

Tehre are at least a dozen people here. Let’s see…Swift, KTR, Thrifty, Moonpie, Mother, Ribeye, Sensei, Bravo, Peanut, Six Piece…I’m sure there’s more. Drumstick. That’s all I can come up with for now.

They don’t seem to be into switchbacks here either, and the result of this is some unbelievable erosion. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Too cold to write more.

1 May 2005, Sunday ~ 14.5 miles

Today was a roller coaster and it really felt more like 16 or 17. I’m beyond where I wanted to be tonight anyway, so it’s ok that it’s under 15, I guess. Also, the tarp is still wet, and it will freeze tonight for sure. I’ll probably still just do 14ish tomorrow to Overmountain Shelter (big red barn) Since I hope to go over Roan Mt. (6285 feet)

Weird thing with the blazes here — some are painted over with brown, leading me to believe that there ’s been a relo and I missed the change and was on the old trail. I wonder what’s up with that?

I’m at the Greasy Creek Friendly, and I’ve had a shower. Yay! I’m thinking about slacking tomorrow. Ok, after inquiring re: slacking I’m probably not. The only road accessible point is 10 miles to hike and 22 miles to drive.

Today was a rough 14 miles. I think part of that was due to the fact that Beauty Spot was socked in with fog so I didn’t have that view and experience to push me along.

30 April 2005, Saturday ~ 8.8 miles

Camped in kind of a crappy spot, but it’s raining and it was 7:30pm when I stopped. I just didn’t want to push my luck. Setting up the tarp in the rain is a bitch and in the dark also a bitch, so both. I’ve also got it pitched too low, but it is drier that way.

Stopped at Curly Maple Shelter for dinner around 5pm. Peanut and crew were there. Thrifty was deciding - he probably stayed. Sparks and Spicy Thigh slacked through.

I probably should have stayed, but it was so early.

I’m probably too close to the forest road here, but I can’t hear anything over there. I’m near the trail with the tarp facing away.

Had a free Coke today, and I’ve got the crumpled can to prove it. No trashcan since I drank it.