Monday June 25, miles today 15.9, miles from Springer 301.4

It rained pretty hard overnight but the old Spring Mountain shelter did not leak.  Like many of the shelters on the Tennesee/North Carolina border it was built in 1937/1938 by the Civilian Conservation Corps.  These were typically small, with rock or log walls and a Tin Roof.  The trail clubs try hard but sometimes have difficulty maintaining them.

We got on the trail at 8:30 am and made the six and a half miles to Log Cabin Drive by 11.  We debated a little about going off the trail for 3/4 of a mile to Hemlock Hallow Inn and Cafe for a late breakfast but resisted the temptation and decided to ascend the 3 1/2 miles to Little Laurel Shelter for lunch.  Major Tom and Hellcat went ahead while I was lagging in the light rain.  On the way up I ran out of energy with my legs cramping up.  I have lost 20 lbs since I started on the trail and by now am having a hard time finding additional fat to burn for energy.  I need to eat more spread out during the day but am trying to temper that with the need to carry more food and more weight.

I finally arrived at Little Laurel Shelter as Major Tom and Hellcat were finishing their lunch.  I decided to have a large lunch including some ramen, jerky, a tuna pack, tortillas and coffee.  The guys left before I finished.  I felt better on the trail after the large lunch but about half way up a 1500 foot climb to Bald Mountain it started to thunderstorm again.  I push on over bald mountain until about 4 pm until I arrived at the bad weather trail bypass for Big Firescald Knob.  The official Appalachian trail went over an exposed rocky ridge but the trail crews built a blue marked trail that allowed hikers to bypass the difficult part.  There was still a light rain but no thunder and lightning so in a moment of recklessness I decided to take the official exposed ridge trail.  It was a pretty hard 1/2 mile climb up the rocks where I often had to use my hands and feed to get past some of the rocks.  Finally I got to the top of the ridge and was rewarded with spectacular views.  Despite the rain there was a view of the Tennessee Valley to the west and endless mountains of North Carolina to the east.  After taking in the views I was ready to get off of the exposed ridge but the trail did not cooperate.  I  descended down some steep rocks only to ascend to the top of the ridge again.  This repeated several times and I was getting tired.  Finally the trail did descend and I found a rock overhang that offered a small dry space that I crawled into for a rest.  I checked my guidebook and saw that I needed to hike 2 1/2 more miles to get to Jerry Cabin Shelter.  I ate a Snickers Bar and restarted my hike.  I shortly arrived at the other side of the bypass trail, it had taken me one and a half hours to go one and a half miles over that rock scramble.

At 7 pm I arrived at the shelter, that place was crowded.  It looked like a tent city and there were a dozen people around the shelter.  There was a boy scout troop with 10 boys and 4 escorts, a men's hiking group of 6 and probably another 6 or 8 people.  Hellcat had tented near the shelter and Major Tom found a spot in the shelter.  I searched around and found a small spot up the trail where I set up my tent.  I filtered some water and cooked my dinner.  From where I was I could hear the voices from the shelter and felt sorry for Major Tom who probably wanted to sleep.  He told me the next day that the commotion went on until 11 pm.   At least we went over the 300 mile mark on the trail that day.