Day Sixteen

I went 7 ½ miles in 5 ½ hours. It was a nice hike.  Not a lot of uphill. Lots of flowers blooming, a quiet day. I passed three hikers and one was a girl. Then this big dog came right up to me, looking for love. His man was from North Carolina and was just out day hiking because Forest the dog really likes it. I saw a bumblebee, some birds and blackberry bushes. There was a huge tree right on the trail. I had to figure out how to get over it. In Georgia, when there is a tree on the trail, they cut it out and leave a nice log for resting my pack on. Here in North Carolina they don’t take care of their shelters as well as they do in Georgia. It just sprinkled on me a little today but now that I’m at the shelter it is pouring down rain. I changed my clothes and did a survey for Bunny from Alaska. She is really cute and promised to buy us all beer when we get to town.

Stunning view of North Carolina mountains

 Well they were all going that far and I am not. So I hope someone passes me that is going that far so they can take this hiker, Al, his pack cover. he apparently left it behind in the shelter when he packed up to move on. If it works it’s called ‘Trail magic”. The trail has been muddy and I’ve slipped and fallen, but I came to a little runoff so I washed up and refilled my water jugs. I saw a white blaze and headed on my way. I also stopped at a nice place where the sun was shining for a minute. Took some pics and tried to send an email. A couple of guys passed me and they were going to Rock Gap. Whoo hoo! Trail Magic! Then I passed a younger girl in a dress with a big beautiful smile. She said once I climbed the summit of Albert mountain, the fire tower is really spectacular.  OMG, that uphill climb was really something! I slipped and fell and crawled and skinned my arms. By the time I made it to the tower, I was pooped and I decided to go to the shelter first. I’m not going back. My phone is dead anyway so I can’t take any pics.