Day #37 - Snakes and Cat Holes

Miles: 17.8 to Clyde Smith Shelter

Another long day! It's already after 8:00 and I'm tired so I'll try to hit the highlights. Early in the day Wing It was walking in front of me when he suddenly tripped/jumped and gasped/shouted. It was very weird and I couldn't figure out what the heck he was doing. Turned out he stepped on a snake on the trail! It crawled over to a tree where I was able to ID it as a harmless garter snake. About 60-90 seconds later, he stepped over another, smaller garter snake but didn't notice. I tried to catch it but my pack tried to come over my head and knocked me off balance. It would have left me smelling like musk anyway.

We climbed a steep up to Unaka Mountain. Saw a bunny on the way. There was a spruce forest at the top of the mountain where we stopped for lunch. It was so nice and cool up there! We actually got a bit chilly even though we had been sweating just moments before. The ground was covered in pine needles, making a great, soft path for hiking. I love the tiny pine cones! I was tempted to grab some but didn't want to carry the extra weight in my pack.

We ate second lunch at the Cherry Gap Shelter. Longhorn, The Family, and some others were there. Longhorn, Cartwheel, and I went down to the spring to refill our water. Longhorn asked Cartwheel to do a cartwheel and she did. She's so cute! She stayed with me while I washed my shirt in the spring. She said her mom had the same sports bra as me. Ha ha. I had tried to wait til she went back to the shelter to take off my shirt but when she stuck around I told her, "It's just us girls," and went ahead and washed it. Someone nearby was collecting ramps, which I guess are kind of like wild onions. I was tempted to try some but we had to keep moving. It inspired Cartwheel and Robin Hood to request a salad for dinner later that night. It looked good! I think it contained the leaves from trout lillies, violets, and ramps. Mmmmmm.

Former thru hikers and their pitbull were hanging out at the lunch shelter. Everything was fine until the dog nipped Robin Hood when he reached down to pet her. The owner took the dog behind the shelter and started beating it. It was awful. Wing It said something to the owner and I grabbed my pack and left as quickly as I could. The Family felt awful about it. Robin Hood didn't get hurt, but it did scare him a bit.

I hiked fast and strong after that. I don't use my brace often anymore. We got trail magic at Iron Mountain Gap! I grabbed a soda and crossed the road, then realized there was food too! I ran back across the street to grab some Swiss Rolls while the kids dug through the cooler. Yum!

We FINALLY made it to the shelter for the evening. I have hot spots on my heels. Don't know why I'm getting them now after being out here for 37 days with no problems. I'll need to tape them tomorrow. Blacksmith isn't here. Apparently he's trying to catch up with one of the German Girls. The other is now off the trail. He's pink blazing (chasing girls) again even though they hid from him and told him they wanted to hiked alone.

BIG NEWS! I pooped in the woods for the first time! It wasn't so bad. It's just hard to find a private spot. Privies are rare in this stretch, so I dug a hole in some duff (leaves) behind a log. No big deal. Yay! I feel like I'm a real thru-hiker now. We have access to flush toilets and privies tomorrow though. I definitely prefer that.

We are trying to get up and over Roan Mountain by noon tomorrow to beat a storm. Planning to stay in Overmountain Shelter, an old converted barn. Better hit the sack!

Best Thing: SNAKES and digging my first cat hole.
Looking Forward To: Overmountain Shelter tomorrow.