The 2000-mile museum

Day 48 - 6/1/10
Had another good hiking day, doing 20 miles exactly. I had such a
comfortable sleep at the shelter in town that I didn't even hear my
6am alarm go off, but I finally got moving around 6:45 and was ready
to hitch back to the trailhead at 8. I went to the gas station nearby
and started thumbing it with Power Nap and Sweet Tea. We eventually
got a ride around 8:30 from a guy and his son. This was a tough town
to hitch in, so a 1/2 hour wasn't too bad. The guy was really cool,
and and had a van so there was plenty of room for us and all our gear.

We were back hiking at 9, and started with a big climb. 2500 ft. in
4-5 miles. They stopped in at the first shelter only two miles up, but
I just plowed past because I didn't want to be going up that thing in
the deadly heat. It was already hot when I was going up it in the AM.
I made the right decision because it put me on this schedule where my
timing for the bad weather was perfect the whole day. I avoided the
rain clouds every time except for a few drizzly drops once or twice,
and no longer then five minutes.

I didn't stop at the second shelter either, but that was because it
was off the trail too far. I also heard from Sweet Tea yesterday that
it's haunted by a small boy whose body was found nearby over a hundred
years ago. I saw the monument for him, and here's what it said
verbatim. "This is the exact spot little Ottie Cline Powell's body was
found April 5, 1891 after straying from Tower Hill School House Nov.
9. Distance of 7 miles. Age 4 years, 11 months." You'd have to hike
the trail to know that this happens to be on the top of a mountain, a
very tough climb actually. Who knows if he walked all that way himself
or if someone/something dragged him up there. Anyway it was a bit
eerie literally standing over the spot where they found him.

The day progressed nicely, and like I said earlier I was very lucky
with the weather, narrowly avoiding it at every turn. I crossed some
neat bridges, another suspension one in fact, and also a really cool
section right before the last shelter that was a freed slave
settlement back in the late 1800 to early 1900's. I'm convinced the AT
is just a really long museum, and also happens to be outdoors. There
are so many historic parts, and often a little placard with
information about what it is you are seeing or about to see, just like
in a museum. Anyway it was really neat reading about the settlement,
and then to see a bunch of old remnants of it like a very long
stonewall, as well as some large piles of rocks I assume were part of
a home at one point.

Right after that area was the third shelter, Brown Mountain Creek. It
was close to six, so I decided to call it a day and quickly make
dinner. I had stuffing with chicken and cranberries, and a TON of
fresh garlic. Literally 2000 lbs. Not really, but I did use a lot. It
was fantastic. I don't know if the food I'm eating actually tastes all
that good, or I'm just hungry beyond belief. I imagine it's a
combination of the two. After finishing that I set up my tent down by
the creek, 50-100 ft. away from the shelter. I know I'm going to
really enjoy listening as I try to fall asleep, like one of those
radios that come with the soothing sounds of nature, except this is
the real thing. I'm trying to be ambitious tomorrow, waking up at 5 so
I can "beat the heat", or at least hike for a little while in some
cooler temps. The heat is easily becoming the hardest thing to deal
with, so maybe the early wake ups will become a regular thing. We will
see how this one goes tomorrow. That's all from me today. Whoa, it's
already June!

Total miles: 795.9