May 14 a Glorious yet tough day.

Ah today where to start? How about this morning...We left camp late again, but I needed to do repairs on my sleeping pad so sunshine drank her coffee while I did the repairs.  We set off to the first shelter where we met Couch, a chill dude from Colorado, we snacked and wrote in the book.

After 1st lunch we set off towards Jennings Creek, Sunshine found an awesome secret swimming hole that we jumped in, it was freezing but felt good at the same time. When our dip was done we headed up our first big climb of the day.  1000ft. climb up to a ridge line then back down to another shelter.  The Shelter was wicked cool, absolutely huge, I thought of it as a hiker fort! I would have loved to stay there but we had to do more miles.

Our next climb was a big one...almost 3000ft. in 5 miles. Of we were 2100ft. to a camp on the side of the mountain,  I made it up the 3 miles in an hour sunshine was close behind.  Couch made camp there we talked with him about hot dogs lol then moved on for the next 650ft. The plan for the night had become this...Skip the shelter and climb another 450ft. To black rock overlook to watch the sun set then find a camp. The out look was great a huge rock you had to climb up to the top of for an amazing view of the west and a perfect sunset. 

We are now tented about .3 from the overlook and the wind is howling.  There are also deer grazing around us its really neat, kinda frieky for a min. till we realized what it was lol.

Good night from the AT.

Carpenter

Sun! 80+ deg. with a nice breeze. May 15

Woke up on the ridge to a beautiful morning. Within the first mile we saw a huge owl it was beautiful.  Started the day with another 1000ft. climb up to an FFA tower. (One of the main towers for the eastern air traffic control centers) there was a posted sign that basically said if you try anything here we will end your life. Makes sense to me :-) From there we decended down to the "Guillotine" a huge boulder wedged between two other boulders. I've got to cut this blog short, bugs are eating me alive due to my cellphones light. We did 17.7 miles today it was really hot but I enjoyed it.

Carpenter.

May 13

Uneventful day today, sunshine and I Did 16.6 miles...we hiked around section hikers all day. First lunch we had at a beautiful little stream crossing,  were we played around looking for ginseng and caught crawfish just for sport. Chilly most of the day our breaks were fairly shorter than usual. The section of trail we are on crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway multiple time, and was rather easy, at one of the crossings we got trail magic that had boiled eggs! Thank goodness I love some boiled eggs. There isn't much water through here or camps other than shelters, so tonight we are stealth camping near the Parkway and a water source.  Our camp is on an old road bed so staking down the tent was a pain. Prior to finding this spot we went down in a damp holler that looked like a good camp till I noticed hog tracks in the mud, no thanks.  Time for bed now need some good sleep so hopefully we can get over 20 miles in tomarrow.

Carpenter

Back on trail! May 12

Short day out of Daleville today, sunshine and I got a later start, and water is spread out so we went to the first shelter. During the accent out of town, we stopped to forage for some edible plants for dinner. Now we sit at the shelter, great fire and the normal food lol. Tomorrow we will get up early and hit the trail for 18 to 20 miles. Lucky for us the weather looks great for the week but tonight will be chilly. Time to crush big miles...Harpers ferry here we come!

Carpenter

McAfee knob May 10

700 miles woot! finally!
Rain rain rain, that's what's up lately. Yesterday was a really clear and warm day that was greatly appreciated,  as was this morning... Sunshine and I reunited yesterday too after 3 days of being separated.  We hung around camp most of the day just catching up and making a plan (which has already changed) Noon we hit the trail to do 6 miles to Catawba VA and eat at the famous "Home Place" an all you can eat home cooked heaven. There we met two new hikers two speed and blue eyes, we all sat together and gorged out. We then all left together to climb the also famous McAfee Knob. About ten min. into the hike the winds picked up and the sky darkened....then rain and lightning,  we push on, either we are really ballsy or dumb idk. At the top the rain had stopped temporarily and the veiw was actually really nice.

Campbell shelter will be our home tonight or atleast the somewhat flat groung around it, as soon as we got here the rain picked up, we all scrambled to get our shelters up and keep dry. I am now laying here mostly dry, still kinda full...but not looking foward to more rain ugh. On to Daleville tomorrow to pick up packages and resupply. 

Carpenter

Rain! May 6

Got out of camp at 1:20pm after hiding in my tent from the onslaught of rain... The rain had been fairly calm for about an hour before I decided to make a move. During the packing progress, it began to rain again...no stopping now!
Its amazing how a cold steady down pour will light a fire under you. I was flying up the trail averaging about 3.5 miles an hour. With every mile that past the rain was becoming harder, the trail was beginning to look like a stream with some area being six or more inches deep. By the time I reached the shelter 13 miles away it was 4:20pm and I was soaked to the bone and rather cold. Now I sit, watching people attempt to make a fire...I would say good luck but this old man here is a know it all and those people drive me nuts.    just saying. ..

Don't believe the florists when he tells you that the roses are free.

Carpenter

May 7

Today started off wet... I was soaked through in the first mile, mostly because I had to put on damp clothes from yesterday's rain storm. Soon after I left the shelter I came to Captains place a house basically with free soda. Dividing the house from the trail is a normally calm river but not today. There is no bridge across, but a pully system with nothing but a 2x6 to stand on...I went across anyhow, can't turn down a free soda.

Once back on trail I hi tailed it up a steep 2.6 mile climb to another shelter.  At the shelter were other hikers hiding from the rain, what started as a quick lunch break turned into me sitting in the shelter for about four hours trying to get warm and dry. About 4o'clock the rain quit and the sun started to peak through...thank God. I rigged up a clothes line and ate some food. One  hour later I was packed and ready to move on... 8.1 miles to the next shelter was my goal.

During this late day hike I saw quite a few salamanders and a deer up above me on the ridge. Finally some wild life...havnt seen a whole lot since the decent to hot springs.  As the day drew to an end and night fall rolled around I was still on trail, the massive amounts of rocks and flooded trail made travel slow. Luckily for me the deer were out enjoying the dryer weather too, in a matter of ten min. I saw 14 deer it was great. My headlamp was next to make an appearance, time for my first solo night hike! I cruised for about an hour and a half by lamp light, only to run up on more deer that scared the crap out of me. 9:30 I strolled into my home for the night, set up my shelter,  ate and hung my bear bag. Now I'm in my tent warm and dry ah relief.

Unfortunately I have poison ivy in quite a few spots, I've been walking around a little off trail foreging food, like cats briar and chick weed both are delicious.  I've also had my eye out for ginseng.

9 mile skid on a 10 mile ride, hot as a pistol but cool inside.

Carpenter