Day 29: Four Weeks (Wed, May 12)

Woke up late (just like I'd planned) at 8am and was the last one out of the bunks. "Paradise" was making bagels - homemade bagels! It smelled great and it was enough for everyone. A handfull of people had already left, but I hung around. There was an offer from "Mountain Camel" to drive up to Demascus on Thursday. There was an offer to slackpack (to hike without a pack, which gets dropped off) to the lake campsite, chill there, then get picked up Thursday at 3 to head to Demascus. There was an offer to just stay at Kincora right on through Trail Days... I still wanted to walk. 52 miles in two days tho...?! I figured it would depend on my heel. I would hike to the lake (11 miles away) and reasses the situation there.

Left at 11:30 after Little Foot made a frozen pizza and I had a slice. I also had a bowl if Sideway's Lucky Charms with banana and strawberries. Aaaand I got a sweet package from my aunt Jeanne that I dove into and shared a bit (big thanks Jeanne!!!). Basically - lots for breakfast/brunch/lunch.


Felt good on the trail. Got in the zone quickly walking on my own and made it to Lake Watuaga by 3ish. Nice lake! Hiked around to where a few new faces were hanging out (Rock n Roll, Dibs and Bimbo (a boy)) and shared some of their food. They had two friends meet them out to grill and fish and hang, so I got summer sausage, trail mix and cookies! The continuous eating continues...

Hung for a bit. "Sandman" was there, too (he'd stayed at the hostel). "Winging It" showed up and passed by, then Sandman left, then I decided that I was going to press on, by foot. It was hard to leave that group by the lake, but I knew I wanted to walk to Demascus.


Caught up to Sandman and walked with him for a while. Over the dam, uphill, a little flat, then more uphill... He set a good pace, and the time flew by. We talked about maybe pressing on after the shelter, after 19 the miles from Kincora. We agreed to eat dinner at the shelter then night-hike for a bit.

Made it to the Vandeventer shelter atop a lovely ridge (beautiful view!) and it was quite crowded with tents everywhere. There was a college professor who had a philosophy class of 11 up there. Sounded like a cool two week course about the spirituality of the trail. We ate and chatted and found out about the good, large campsite with a spring about 4 miles up. Perfect. We took our time and digested a bit. Puma and Little Foot showed up (not sure how I passed LF) and Puma said he'd probably push on, too, but he'd wait for Low Rider (too many names...? sorry. I try to note them so I can remember later...)


Sandman and I took off as the light was fading at 8:45pm. Once again, he set a good pace, and we made it to the campsite in less than 90 minutes! Night hiking was a bit thrilling, but also a bit more clumsy. There were a few other tents set up, zipped up and sleeping, so we quietly set our tents up and crawled in them. Now it's 11:15 and I'm tired and I'm supposed to do 30 miles tomorrow...?!

(there's always the hitching option.....)

(21.6)


-- Posted from the trail...

Location:Campsite near mile 434