Super Hiker Woman (Trying Anyway)

April 29-6.5 miles-Campsite to Boots Off Hostel-AT mile 428.6 We said a fond farewell to Dusty. She gave us food, and even took our trash. If it all works out, when we finish, we’ll come back and do the Smokies with her (gives us a goal to strive for). We parted ways at the side trail into Hampton.  But first, a little beach hike.  And over the river (2nd bridge of the day) Goodbye Dusty! We’ll miss you! Our route heading up.  There are two ways to get into Hampton. Since we were heading to Boots Off Hostel, we wanted the second option, as it takes us right to the hostel. Of course, that meant we had to do a three mile climb up, then down to follow the AT.  It was weird because we could see Hampton, but we were walking away from it. Granted, the hostel is not in the center of town. As we came over and started down, we got a good view of Watuga Lake.  Lots of recreating happens there. In the distance is the dam. I believe we cross over it.  Boots Off Hostel ...

April 28-10.2 miles-mile 411.9 to 422.1 Since we had such a short day, we took our time getting going, yet we were still on the trail just after 8:30. Dusty decided to hang with us today. It was really nice having another woman to hike with. There are so few of us out here.  Dusty and Koda Don’t you just love those eyes (too bad they are not as in focus as his nose)! We took breaks, and really enjoyed the day.  Photo courtesy of Dusty AWOL lists this as “Rotted Cabin”...no duh... Laurel River We crossed the Laurel River on this nice bridge.  From the bridge.  The scenery highlight of the day was Laurel Falls. It was actually near the end of the day.  Really a nice waterfall.  After the falls, we continued to follow the river. Up above, there is a high water bypass. This is why.  See Dusty? That’s the trail.  Understandably not a good way if the river is high.  We had come all the way down some very treacherous stairs to get down to the Falls....

April 27-16.6 miles US 19E to campsite at AT mile 411.9 Yes, that’s correct. We did 16.6 miles. Actually, we thought we did 17.4, but I’ll get to that in a moment.  We were joined at the hostel last night by Neo, Music Man, Garlic, and Donatello. Neo was most annoying. The dude did not shut up until 2:00 in the morning. At one point he locked himself out, and didn’t know the door code. So what did he do? He bangs on the door loud enough to wake up the entire hostel! Dumbass! This morning, Sure Foot and I were sorely tempted to bang around as we were getting ready to go, but, as they say, two wrongs don’t make a right.  Freefall drove us back to the trail at 7:30. We were back on the trail at 7:35. Karen, one of the owners, had told us a lot of people slackpack this section, but we are not ready to do that just yet. Besides, it is not a difficult section from 19E to Hampton.  The sun was shining from the beginning this morning! It was a little chilly, and the ground was st...

April 26-0 miles  We did it again. We managed to take a zero on a day when the weather was crappy. So nice to be inside on a cold rainy day.  We had a huge breakfast of pancakes, potatoes, biscuits and gravy (which SF has never had), scrambled eggs, a banana, and hot chocolate. I can’t believe I ate the whole thing! We went over the next few days, and planned our resupply. SF only needed a couple things. I needed a few more. I got a new freeze dried meal to replace the bag I use for insulation for my dinners. We are aiming to do a big day tomorrow, maybe as much as 16.7 miles. The trail is supposed to be fairly easy to Hampton, and our next hostel...Boots Off.  I had a long conversation about bike touring with Freefall, a guy who has been working here while waiting out the virus. He started Feb 29th. He has my email, and can contact me with any questions. First he has to finish his thru-hike.  I forgot to mention last night the cider I had, and the beer SF had were p...

April 25-11.1 miles (actually 11.5 with the blue blaze to Overmountain Barn) Stan Murray Shelter to The Station at 19E AT mile 395.3 Well, we’ve gone and done it! We’ve finally left the State of North Carolina for good, but more on that in a minute.  Last night the fog was like the proverbial pea soup around 11:00, then the stars were out about 4:00, then back to pea soup by the time I was getting up to start another day of hiking. Cool thing, at about 4:00, there were at least three Barred Owls hooting a chorus around my tent. If it had been light enough, I’m sure I could have seen them in the trees. They actually woke me up with their partying. I hear them frequently. I’d love to see one.  We were on trail at 8:00. In a couple of miles we came to the blue blaze trail for the Overmountain barn. Up until this year, it was a shelter, but due to the fact that it is a bit dangerous, it has been decommissioned. Tenting is still allowed (40 feet from the barn). We met a couple of g...