Day 17

Sat. Sept. 13 Kincora to Watauga Lake Shelter 10 miles Weather: beautiful and hot I forgot to mention that Shadow was there at the hostel with me last night. He was very helpful, as usual, showing me the ropes of how life at an AT hostel works. I slept so well last night, it was unbelievable. I didn't wake up until about 8:30am. By that point, everyone there was already gone. Bob and another guy were going to work on rerouting the trail and I assume Shadow stayed with them. So I spent forever charging my cell phone, cooking sausage biscuits for breakfast, and finishing off my yogurt. For some reason, my boot laces decided to deteriorate last night and broke twice as I was lacing up. Since Bob had already left, I just tied the broken pieces together and went. Another beautiful morning. I got to Laurel Falls by about noon. I guess I wasn't really thinking about it being noon on a Saturday, but I show up to about 20 people there. I dip my toes into the water and debate whether I should go swimming with the girls. I ate as much as my stomach could handle then hiked up what seemed a pointless mountain. Climbing up several thousand feet to Pond Flats, it was as if the top of the mountain had been sliced off and covered in thick forest. I came down to a park right on the Watauga Lake. I was very pleased to see a water spicket. All the springs in this area are supposedly dried up. Flung off my boots and stripped down to only shorts. I decided to just do dinner here so I cooked up a family sized box of kraft shells and cheese. A wonderful man walked up and gave me a coke. Now how did he know that a ice cold coke is exactly what I was craving? It was spectacular. My body is craving sugar constantly. I just got to the shelter and there's plenty of water. So about water: I hate filtering it, always have. So here's my options: Filtering takes a long time and is the only method that sometimes cleans the taste. Iodine or chlorine takes twenty minutes and tastes bad. There's also other chemical treatments, but I haven't seen them in a long time. UV sterilizing pen is fast and easy. And then of course there's not filtering. I think my next section I'm going to bring chlorine drops and see how that works out. I think if I don't like the taste then I will buy a steripen (UV). So that would drop a pound from my pack and save me at least half an hour each day. The other thing that is nagging me is my rain coat (another pound). When hiking, I sweat so much that I get just as wet inside my jacket as without. Instead of a hardshell, I'd like to find something that is more concerned with wind protection and breathability than waterproofing. Sorry to those that don't care about equipment, but I figure there might be a few reading this that want the advice. I swept the shelter and figure I'll get to bed early. I miss you all! It's at least 75 degrees, way too hot to sleep. I wish I was back on top of Roan Mtn. It was dang cold that night. High: Laurel Falls Low: boots need replacing badly