Beginning Point: Rice Field Shelter
Ending Point: Bailey Gap Shelter
Daily Mileage: 16.2 Miles
Total Miles: 645.5 Miles
Weather: Glorious sunshine after a questionable foggy morning.
Alarms began ringing around 6 am; Turtle Don rose, made breakfast, and broke camp before anyone else got out of their sleeping bags. Next to rise were the boyscouts that camped with us... or at least the adults were up. They tried to wait out the fog, too, but their section-hike agenda got the better of them. Finally we decided to eat some breakfast and hope for the best. Lightweight Joe left around 8:45; we didn't roll out until an hour later. Just as we were packing up, Stephan realized that he didn't have the tent. The working theory is that it rolled under the bed at the Holiday Motor Lodge and went unnoticed until just now. Hmmm, what to do?
Fortunately we ran into Graybeard a few miles from the shelter. His cellphone had good reception, and thus Stephan was able to call the Holiday and have the tent shipped to Troutville. Now all we have to do is make sure we hit shelters (with enough space) before nightfall.
Now for another topic...I wanted to let you know what's in my pack now because its a little different from when I first began this journey. If this sort of thing doesn't interest you, you might as well skip the rest of the entry.
*Pack - Granite Gear Vapor Trails and pack-cover for rain
*Bag - Western Mountaineering Highlight
*Sleeping bag liner - cocoon salt (silk)
Sleeping pad - Z-Rest by thermarest
*Silnylon ground-cloth
Boots - Asolo 520 full leather
*Camp shoes - crocs (they weigh 12 oz for both)
*1-L nalgene bottle for water
*1.8-L platypus hydration system
Headlamp
Digital camera
*Clothes - rain gear, 2 pr. smart-wool socks, 1 pr. board shorts, 1 pr. zipoff pants (only using the shorts), 1 pr. patagonia ladies boxer- briefs, 1 pr. cotton underwear, 1 sport bra, 1 running top w/ bra, 1 caliper short sleeve shirt, 1 duo-fold long-sleeve shirt, 1 fleece, 1 wool hat, and 3 bandannas.
Kitchen - 2-L cook pot, pot grips, pocketknife, 8 oz. fuel bottle, insulated plastic mug, spice kit, soap, garlic paste, and olive oil.
Library - trail maps, 1 notebook, 1 novel (Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance), 1 pen, and my pocket-mail.
*Hygeine - tp for day use, tp for camp use, hand sanitizer, wipes, toothbrush and paste, comb, and some personal products.
*Medical supplies - analgesics, foam callous cushions, vitamins, ibuprofen (vitamin I), bandaids, duct tape, toenail clippers.
It seems like a lot when I list everything, but really, my pack never weighs more than 29 pounds when I leave a town. I am not carrying my stove or silshelter (a tarp) anymore because Stephan and I are cooking together and we use his tarp-tent because it has no-see-um bug netting (I hate those guys!) The goal every night is to make it to a shelter, so we don't tent too often. So, I carry about 1.1 pounds less than if I carried a stove and my shelter. We are usually pretty even with food distribution.
I bought a new stove in Neels Gap (around mile 30) - its an alcohol stove made by Etowah Outfitters. It weighs about an ounce and a half and burns denatured alcohol. This particular model is nicer than the popcan stoves because you can simmer with it. I think I sent this stove home in Damascus because I hardly ever used it since Stephan often cooks for us. I figure thats only fair because I prepared and dehydrated most of the meals we eat - why should I cook twice?
Happy Hiking!
Steph