Saturday 12 May

I Dozed for a  while before getting  up.

Somersault had already left and left early. I went to the woods then retrieved my food bag. I removed my fly and then put water on to boil.
I began to pack up as the water came to the boil. I ate breckfast then finished packing. By the time I walked into the trail it was already in the 70s I think somersault had the right idea.
The trail began gentley but I knew that I had big climbs to do later and the sun was hot.
I pounded along  the  trail heading down , i seemed to be decending  for a long long time as i reached and crossed  over a  road , Bob caught me, Bob is fairly tall s and so can really stride  so skips up mountains the bastard.
This was the start of the the first climb,  again it started gently then  became steep  I climbed for over 2 hours beforeI reached thetop and had to take a break as I was shattered.  I pushed on  and down for  short  distance before my next 2 mile climb   oh joy . Luckily this climb was mainly  sheltered from the sun by  pine  trees , but OMG it was still steep

2 hrs later I emerged on top of a  grassy bank with nothing to see and then the trail  imeaditly  began to decend  and of course STEEPLY down.
The trail  bed became pebbles and busy with clean people and many dogs. I guessed it was a tourist spot but I hadn’t a clue what or where I was  until an hour later I emerged out onto  the Tennessee / North Carolina border.
There were cars every where. then I spied Bob sat by the forest sign  so joined him.
Whilst here i decided to take lunch, we tried to  yogi some free  stuff a apple a soda  but no one was being  generous

Shortly  Amy and Pig pen  arrived  from yesterday’s camp
After my break I hoisted my pack and set off with all the clean day tripers up the other side of the hill. once up the views were spectacular but the trails continuous climbs and decents  were exhausting me. I ploughed on for several hours  meeting a bunch of scouts out hiking,  they were very chatty so I tagged along with them for a few miles

My  original target was the second shelter  around mile 16  But when I got there I  felt that it was too early so decided to push on as I wanted more miles.
This may of been unwise as  the trail quickly began to climb and  very steeply . It continued climbing for several hours , I thought i  was done as i crosssed sevral meadows but then it  began to climb again , before crossing several  more hills. My map said two miles but I’m convinced it was more likely 4 .  I needed water  but the next water i came  too was crappy  , bugger  as i was relying on it . I then passed a camp   which i was to be my target, but i needed water .
I carried on up the trail  suddenly  i met Bob coming the other way . Hey  BOb
Snail there’s water  about .2 miles  im now heading back to the camp.
Cheers Bob , i will join you later when i have water.

I soon found  water an d was on my  way  back to  the campsite
I spied Bob putting up his tent and quickly followed suit.
As we  ate dinner,  a deer decided to join us , completely unfazed that we were here. After eating  I hung my food bag  then turned in

Start  369
Finish 387.8
mileage 19.8 miles
Remaining 1803 Miles