It's nice to wake up indoors once and a while. I saw that Purple Rain had cooked herself a breakfast in the communal kitchen. It was unanimous, once all eyes were open, that breakfast had to be made in bulk. After a quick trip across the street for supplies, plates were covered with chocolate chip pancakes, biscuits, eggs with onions and peppers, and corned beef hash. It was epic, and we all ate to bursting.
We moved slowly after breakfast, lounging in front of the tube and organizing gear. Eventually we made it back to the market to get a full resupply going. We needed 3 days worth of food and fuel to get us up the Tennessee Turnpike to Damascus. It was a quick resupply and then back to the hostel to pack everything up. Mr. Fantastic and I didn't set out until around 4pm. Our laziest start to date.
Today we had to tackle Pond Flats, a 6 mile PUD (pointless up down) that we were warned to be wary of. It was described as very tough, with no view and no water. They were right about the view, but it wasn't a bad hike, and we had more water than we would have liked.
The thunderstorm moved in right around the time we started climbing, but we got out rain gear on in good time. We chatted and hiked; talking about DC food plans, movies, and actors.
After going over Pond Flats we cross a street to Watauga Lake and see Pinky hitching his way out. Who knows where he was off to. The end of Memorial Day and arrival of thunderstorms had chased away all the lakeside enthusiasts.
A sign on a tree claimed that the shelter was a mere mile away. We passed a plethora of tents pitched at various campsites strewn all about the lake. People who had set up their tents in the sunshine of the day, only to be driven inside them when the rains came.
Just when we had started to believe that we missed the shelter, Tender Fungus informed us from his hammock that we were only 30 feet away. James (the newly named but not oft spoken Shenanigans) and Chief Kickin' Wing were there to greet us as we ducked under the cover of the shelter.
It took a while to get situated while hiding from the rain, but eventually food was eaten and bedrolls were spread. Optimus joined us in the shelter and Lavender set up her tent. That wouldn't be the worst plan for someone with an arachnophobia, since we do have a couple of big wolf spiders lurking on the walls. To be honest though I'd rather have a wolf spider on my face than set my tent up in this rain.
We hear that it may rain all week.. Just par for the course on the good 'ole Appalachian Trail this year. Regardless of the weather, 2 long days will bring us to Virginia and out of the meandering NC/TN border. This is the point Mr. Fantastic has been excited for, because he feels it's a milestone to be entering the state with the most miles of trail. I personally felt that it'd be a milestone when it's complete. I think on this we're both right.
