2nd Day of the Shake-Down

Great day on the trail! My 51st birthday!

Left Len Foote Inn after breakfast at about 8:30 am and summited Springer Mountain at about 11 am. Took pix of both plaques. Had a nice long lunch break at Stover Creek Shelter, a really nice shelter with a loft, privy, picnic table, etc. A beautiful sunny day with a high temp of about 70 degrees.

We had a little trouble finding the water point at Stover Creek until "Stinky" came along and showed us the way. "Stinky" was not his real name or trail name; we did not get either; but it is descriptive. "Stinky" was a southbounder who'd started at Harper's Ferry in June. He'd originally intended to do a flip-flop going from Roan Mtn to Katadhin then reversing to Springer. But "something went wrong" and he ended up sb-ing. We was actually a bit of a grump, but since we needed water and he helped us find it, it was good to meet him!

We made good mileage today - 12 miles. To my surprise, Michelle beat me up every hill. We go into Hawk Mountain Shelter fairly early, set up camp, and slept in the shelter with no other human occupants (we did have some mice companions overnight!). Two young guys stayed nearby as did one middle-aged guy with a dog. We cooked freeze-dried meals on the Jet Boil - yummy and had night and morning coffee with the coffee press. During the night we heard mice, coyotes, hawks, and many dogs.

Slept like a log from 8:30 pm to 8:00 am, but got a late start the next day as a result, about 9:00 am. New Pro Lite 3 Therma Rest was plenty comfy as was 30 degree NF bag even with approx 35 degree air temps.

{editors note: I am entering this in my blog in February 2008 discussing my hike from November 2007. On New Years's Day 2008 a young woman was murdered in the north Georgia mountains by a middle-age man with a dog not more than a few miles from Hawk Mountain. It turns out he was a drifter that often hiked/camped in the North Georgia and North Carolina mountains. I saw pictures of this man after he was caught and confessed to the heinous crime. I really did not look closely at him in early November 2007, but I truly think it may have been that same man. Scary.}