Mailing Address

This morning I got up at 6 to put laundry in the washer and went back to bed. We wore clean clothes to breakfast and lingered with the newspaper, reading holiday stories. Walking back to the hostel we passed the PO and knocked persistently and loudly on the door. We finally got a workers attention and got our food box.

Packed, we walked back to where we got off the trail (extra miles) and started our climb up Pond Mtn that we had heard about. The mtn is shaped like an upper-case A with a squared off top, so it was steep up with a long level walk and a steep down. Cuss is a wimp! Along the way we saw a large black snake, no bands, with a NASCAR checked belly. We were almost nose to nose as I climbed and he was not in a hurry to get out of my way.

We hiked down to Lake Watauga and sat at a picnic table for 4pm snack. It made me feel like a Memorial Day partier. After we hiked across the dam we saw a box turtle but he wouldn't open the door for a chat.

Camp was after we found a spring.

Que and Jonachi are blue grass/Celtic musicians carrying backpack fiddle and guitar. They are financing their hike by performing and selling CD's and will move to Nashville after hiking. I think the Vineyard Quintet should take note!
We tented near the shelter and were so cold we were in a hurry to get into sleeping bags.

First stop in town was the cafe. Ken ordered a small calzone that was big enough to feed 2 hungry hikers! Several hikers in town already and we expect 8-10 more later today.

Staying at the Apple Tree B&B. Expensive by hiker standards, but really nice. We are on the 3rd floor overlooking Laurel Street (the main street) and all the action. Showers attended by the house cat, then relaxing in a robe(!) before PO and chores.