I love food.

Day 27 - 5/8/10
Woke up at 6:30 to a pouring rainstorm. Thankfully it only lasted 5-10
minutes, and the day quickly progressed to blue skies and warm temps.
I feel very lucky I didn't have to walk in any rain today.

I left Vango and Abby's Memorial Hostel at 8:00. I was passed by
another hiker named Paco, and maybe ten minutes after that I see him
sort of apprehensively walking up the trail. A second later I see a
black blur run deep into the woods. Third bear I've seen now. Still
just as thrilling. Maybe 10 minutes later I started feeling really
low, almost like I was going to pass out, so I stopped and scarfed
down a poptart, 2 snickers, a pack of peanuts, and a 32 oz. Gatorade.
That did the trick. I made it to the first shelter at 11:00 and saw
Dewlap and Rainer pull in a few minutes later. Didn't expect to see
them, but they told me they did a 25 the day before. Impressive.

I left and on my way toward Hampton started craving two things. Cape
Cod chips and Ben & Jerry's. It seems like half the day I'm thinking
about food. When I first started I had trouble eating enough, but now
I feel like I can't get enough. I'm always hungry even though I'm
eating more. The hunger has definitely hit hard. I made it to the
road, 12 miles for the day, and saw a bunch of cars parked across the
way. I soon learned this was because there were some nice waterfalls a
mile or so down the trail. I met a mother and her two daughters who
were heading there named Deb, Darla, and D'Anna, the 3 D's. A very
nice bunch I ended up hiking with all the down to the falls. They also
gave me a little trail magic, some Ritz and PB crackers. When we made
it I was very impressed to see this 50 ft. waterfall pouring down the
cliffside. I could have stayed all day, but after a few pictures I
said goodbye and continued on.

At 15 miles I came to a side trail that would take me into Hampton. At
a mile long I figured it was worth a visit, and I was really craving
that ice cream. I made into town and went to Brown's, a small grocer
owned by Sutton Brown who also runs a hostel in town. Real nice guy,
very helpful. Unfortunately they didn't have B & J's, but they did
have Cape Cod chips (I couldn't believe this because I'm all the way
down in TN) so I bought some chips, an ice cream Twix, a chocolate
milk, small package of donuts, and a Pibb! I ate it all too. Hungry
hungry hiker here. Man was it good. After I was fully stuffed I got a
ride back to the trail from a nice guy named Lou Honeycut. For some
reason I really like this name. Sutton Brown actually was the one who
got Lou to give me the ride, so that's what I mean when I say helpful.
Lou ended up being a really cool guy, retired 69 yr. old. We spoke for
a while at the trailhead, just kind of lounging against the back of
his truck. He was telling me about seeing the ponies in VA and all the
hiking he's done.

After saying goodbye I was back on the trail. I pulled some serious
miles and ended at Watauga Lake Shelter, doing a total of 23 for the
day, my longest. I made some dinner, chicken and mashed potatoes (I
also put in Tobasco but quickly realized it doesn't go well with
mashers). New faces here at the shelter, nice people, a mix of thru's
and sectioners I'm meeting for the first time. Today was a very good
day, complete with a short stop in town for some treats. I'll be doing
a 21 tomorrow, then be in Damascus by Monday night.

In case I can't post tomorrow night I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day
to my mom, hopefully I can get a quick call in at some point tomorrow.
Anyone who reads this and sees her in the next few days, this includes
any of you Bridgton nurses, please give her a big hug from me and tell
her she's the best. Thank you. Good night, can't wait to see Damascus.

Total miles: 423.5