So I've slept one month on the trail. I feel slightly accomplished, this is twice as long as any backpacking trip I had been on so far. It was just the beginning, the intro, 390 miles walked, almost 1800 more to go.
Fresh Grounds was right. this morning i was treated to what I can only describe as a thanksgiving style feast of a breakfast. Its seemed like all the counter space in the kitchen was covered with another tasty homemade breakfast food. Sausage, egg, and cheese stuffed potatoes were my favorite. Nutella dipped fruits, a brief foray into luxury, I had to remember I was on trail.
When we hit the trail at 11am, the already great day, just got better. The first part was steep through a valley up towards some un-named wooded high point I was sure. There were a few open field walks with bluebird skies. I one such places there was a big sycamore tree that 7 of us managed to climb into. When someone felt hungry we all stopped and ate a sunny lunch by the Elk River.
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| Handsome Dan by the Elk River enjoying a winter hiker delicacy, sun softened Clif bar. |
The trail skirts the edge of this river for a while. Not too far longer Mountaineer falls and the shelter, carrying the current trend we stop and snack, a few of us take turns going under the falls. Now when we arrive and see the shelter a new, clean three story, its an almost unanimous decision to stop here for the night. Not even ten miles to the day, tomorrow Ill have to punish myself.
Th water source for this shelter is the stream feeding the top of the waterfall and may be the only water source I sat at and enjoyed for this long. In addition to Dan, Live, Blink, Halfmoon, Rambo, and Mama Bear; soon Fun Size arrives and says a much larger hoard of friends is on the way from Overmountain. Sunbear, Grease, One-Day, Facts, Haiku, Wrong Leg, Canary, Joules, Turtle, and Hard-to-Kill show up tonight. Its cool to see this many hikers in one spot randomly in the woods.
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