Saturday June 9, miles today 15.2, miles from Springer 158.8

I got up early as has become my habit, got the food bags down, made my breakfast using the last of my oatmeal and was starting to pack up when the rest of the folks at the shelter started to rise.  Igor was a lot more friendly and quizzed me on the type food and equipment I use.  He needs to get the weight on his 70 lb pack down.

I was off at dawn, climbing Cheoah Bald.  The last half mile was a very steep 35 degree incline.  Any incline over 20 degrees will stop me, and I end up resting for 30 seconds as I go up.  To make sure I continue, I count steps in increments of 100, 200 or 400.  I have learned that 2400 of my steps is one mile.  I often keep count which let's me know how close I am to finishing a climb.

When I finally got to the top, I found John camped, with his camera tripod set up.  He was just boiling water for coffee and offered me some-- if I could provide my own cup.  By now I had started carrying my coffee cup in the top of my pack and quickly joined him.  The views were spectacular. You could the mountain tops and fog between them in the lower elevations.  I even got out my phone to take a couple pictures.  Despite the view, the bugs were swarming making it a little uncomfortable.  I was a little surprised how the gnats and flies swarmed at the top of mountains and there was not many at the lower elevations.  I finished my coffee and got back on the trail.

View from Cheoah Bald, June 9, 2018

About 7 miles into the hike I decended to Stecoah Gap which had a highway running through.  Obi Wan, Major Tom and Hellcat had just caught up, when a man in a white minivan drove up.  He owned a couple hostels near by and wanted to know if we wanted to stay.  We were looking forward to getting to Fontana Dam the next day and needed to put in a lot more miles today so we turned him down.  It is amazing how much business the AT hikers bring to this area.  The local people are genuinely friendly.  The man gave us some water and went on his way.

A couple miles further we stopped at a pretty run down Brown Fork shelter for lunch.  We waited out a little rain then continued another six miles to Cable Gap shelter.  I was the last one in and tired.  I remembered how grouchy Igor was the previous night so I stayed quiet until I recovered.  Major Tom made reservations at the Fontana Dam Resort for the following night.  We were all looking forward to showers, food and beer the next day.