Yogi Saves the Day

Day 68- 20 Miles today from Pinefield hut to Lewis Mountain campsite, 4,900 Feet Up, 3,900 Feet down, Total 993 AT miles

Large Tent

No one slept in the shelter last night. The mosquitoes probably will tear you up now. Many more hikers came in after I had grabbed one of the last sites up on the hill.

The site was flat but rocky. I’m still carrying the three person tent Knockerz and I shared. I could probably shave a couple of pounds off my back with a one person tent but Knockerz will get back out here soon. Plus there’s no place for me to grab another tent right now.

Camping Sites Hard To Find

Today I got started at 7:30 a.m. It’s a muggy day with a chance of rain and thunderstorms this afternoon. The Shennies are similar to the smokeies in that there are designated camp spaces you are supposed to camp at. Unfortunately unlike the Smokies the designated campgrounds here are these national park mega sites charge $30 a night. They are set up for RVs.

The shelters don’t seem to have much tenting space near them. There are a few stealth sites which apparently are okay to camp at unlike the Smokies. In the Smokies you are required to camp in designated back country tent sites. No stealth camping. Camping in the Shennies is difficult to find.

The trail continues to wind back and forth across the Skyline drive. Some sections of the AT wind way around just to come back to Skyline drive again especially around the mega campsites. It’s a several mile loop of trail for no reason other than to go around the megasite.

Today’s goal is to try to stick to my 15 mile per day diet but like yesterday I’m not sure if I will be able to. I do not want to ramp up my miles too quickly and get an overuse injury. Both water sources and stealth campsites are hard to find however. The AT travels along the ridge so the topography usually doesn’t lend itself well for stealth camping with steep drops on both sides of the trail.

Conversation

As I did the first climb I approached Oldschool who was hiking at a similar pace as me. We started hiking together for awhile and before I knew it it was 11:30. We had blown through almost 8 miles of hiking. We passed the 900 mile mark.

After days of hiking by yourself it is nice to hike with somebody else and have some conversation to keep the miles going by.

At a gap I ran into Dirtnap and two other people he had been traveling with. One of them had a support vehicle that was offering a beer which I happily took. We chatted for awhile. A former Dr. Who through hiker came by while we were drinking the beers and told us that another former through hiker, Tinker, at the Lewis Mountain campground would allow us to camp at his site if we needed to.

Smooth Going

The trail hiking is rather easy in the Shennies. The grades can be tough at times but they are not long and most of the trail is well maintained. The trail surface in many sections is smooth and not too many obstacles to climb over. So it’s easier to do big miles.

Snake!

Leaving Swift run gap I started the climb where I ran into what I thought initially was a huge black snake. I had read some comments from somebody about that huge blacksnake catching somebody else by surprise. So while my first reaction was to stop my second reaction was oh that’s that communication cable.

Berry Time

The miles on trail clicked away. I stopped to eat lunch and Survivor, a super tall young man from England, came by and chatted with me for a little bit.

He was bemoaning the heat and humidity and bugs. He told me they don’t have those in the UK. We also compared notes on blackberries. I told him about the blackberry shakes and he questioned me that blackberries are not that common to eat? I explained to him that blackberries are a big thing especially in the southeast. He then went on to tell me about currants and how they make jams out of currants. I’m not sure what a currant is.

Perfume

As I approached a picnic shelter I started smelling perfume. I was a good quarter of a mile away from the picnic area but the wind was apparently blowing in my direction. When I got to a trail junction there were some ladies waiting there. They were definitely the source of the perfume I had been smelling.

I keep being amazed at how well I can smell scents that I wouldn’t have noticed. I know I have also been desensitized to the bad smell of us thru hiker trash.

Water is Hard to Find

Passing by the last water source for a while I noticed it was at least 3 tenths of a mile off the trail. I decided I would ration my quarter liter until the next water source 3.5 miles away which is supposed to be really close to the trail.

After today I will have already reached the halfway point through the 107 miles of the Shennies.

As I was climbing the hill towards Lewis campground Survivor popped up behind me. I asked him how it was that I had passed him. He told me he had stopped at the spring and decided to take a short nap. A couple hours went by before he woke back up.

Yogi

Yogiing is when you show up and people give you food because they see your empty bowl. When I got to the Lewis campground I found Ticker who offered me a tent site. Unfortunately I had no quarters. The sink had warm water so I washed in sink hiker trash style.

I used my dirty tights as a washcloth. I rinsed them several times before using them but I could not get the rinse water to not be brown. I used my damp dirty trail shirt as a towel.

I changed into my only other clothing which was a pair of clean tights, clean socks, and a clean trail shirt.

An Australian couple who had made friends with Tinker invited me over for some champagne and a meal. It was a wonderful meal. It was slightly raining but they had a fire also. A little after dark I made my way to my tent content with a full belly and a cleanish body.