15.5 miles - 374.1
We were woken by a whippoorwill singing on the log in front of the shelter this morning at 5:45. Kept entertaining us for quite awhile. Seemed to be trying to get us up, which is what he accomplished. I'm glad he did, too, because it got us going early enough so that we didn't have to rush through the 15.5 miles today. Had no problems with my feet or anything else, though Rick was complaining about his feet killing him. I think the secret to hiking without all the problems is to start early so you have enough time to cover the distance without rushing.
We started hiking at 7:40 and got to the shelter around 4:00. The trail was pretty easy of course, going along this ridge crest with not much elevation change for 8 miles. It was still a bit of up and down, but nothing too hard. Before the easy stuff, though, we had a few fairly long steep climbs which were quite challenging. It was a more or less perfect day for hiking. The weather was a little on the cool side, with clouds most of the day, but hiking was easy because we weren't over heated. Didn't have too many good views, but the few we had were quite good, of Watauga Lake. Spring is in full bloom down in the lower elevations, but up here around 4,000 feet there is still a ways to go.
Stopped at Vanderventer shelter for lunch. Real mouse problem there. They would have eaten our lunch out of our hands if we weren't watching them. Got to Iron Mountain Leanto around 4:00 and Walt was already there. Another guy going southbound was there. He's not doing the whole trail. Started 400 miles north of Damascus. Has lots good to say about Damascus. Sounds real fine. Beer, lots of stores, 2 banks, a cheap motel. Another guy came up later with a bow and arrow and a dog. We have heard about him quite a bit. Robin Hood. He went on to the next shelter. Rick and Louise came in last, after Gloria. So there will be at least 7 in the shelter tonight.
[No pictures again today. I must have run out of film, or else I was just not into it.]
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