Weather: 70s/40s, hot and clear with a nice breeze
The Boy Scouts were funny last night. One told us a blonde joke that went something like "If a blonde, a brunette, and an orange head fell off a cliff, who would hit first? The orange head and the brunette because the blonde would have to stop to ask directions." The hikers laughed about the orange heads more than the joke itself. The kid had never heard the term "redhead." Too funny.
Tigger woke me up early and we set off toward the border with True Story. It was warm today! I started in my shorts and soon took off my fleece. The border was underwhelming. It's just a sign on a tree on the edge of the trail. I almost walked right past it. We climbed up some rocks to take a break at the border. We ate some puppy chow Tigger's mom made to celebrate a new state! We took pictures at the border and at the twisted tree just past it.
Hiking the first part of North Carolina was a bitch! True Story said "Would you like some uphill with your uphill?" I kept up with Tigger and True Story until lunch, which is quite an accomplishment! We ate lunch at Muskrat Shelter. Toasted Toes, an older hiker who has lived in Beaumont, Longview, and Fort Worth, gave us some of his cheese and salami.
Being out here has definitely affected my brain. I'm concentrating so much on putting on foot safely in front of the other that other things take longer to process. For example, when we showed up at the shelter someone had changed the sign from SHELTER to SHEETER. Totally threw me. I thought it was a privy sign.
We also passed a side trail called Chunky Gal Trail.
Hiking downhill was hard today because my feet are sore. There are lots of boulders and the trail is narrow with a steep dropoff. I should have taken a break but I thought we were close to the shelter. I stopped at Deep Gap for a break with Gregg. He said the shelter was still 0.9 miles away! We are hiking a little over 2 miles per hour so that was another 30 minutes away. It was a long day! I finally met True Story, Blacksmith, and Tigger at Standing Indian Shelter. They moved on to camp at the summit but I was too tired and decided to sleep in the shelter. The guys threw bear lines because there were no bear cables.
Dinner was gross. Not impressed with Hawk Vittles for the most part. I threw half my dinner away, which really means I put it in my trash bag and have to haul it for a few days until I find a trash can. Snickers saved the day and I ate one for the rest of my dinner.
We are trying to make it to Franklin before it rains on Friday. My knee is still sore but feeling strong!
Best Thing: A new state! Perfect weather.
Looking Forward To: Hopefully meeting back up with Kim & Oliver.
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