May 4-5 wandering between TN/NC

May 4, 2005 | Day 38 | Miles 17.5 | Total Miles: 426.8
End: Vanderventer Shelter, Tent
Danielle:
Sunny and warm
After a lazy morning, we finally got on the trail at 9:30am. The first section was down through Laurel Gorge and along Laurel Fork River. Gorgeous! Then up and over a big mountain, down to Watauga Lake. It's a huge dammed lake that we ran along for a while and then up a ridge that wandered along with great views to the lake below. Really pretty. Our tent is set up behind the shelter with a lakeview. It was a long day but a good one. Nice to have the sun out and be warm :-)

Ryan:
sunny, warmish
ummm...we hiked today.
today's song - "all i need is free radical, all i need is cheese", this is free radical's version of mike & the mechanics, all i need is a miracle. yup, free radical is most likely going to die. that is not something you want in your head all day.

May 5, 2005 | Day 39 | Miles: 17.8 | Total Miles: 444.6
End: unofficial campsite by Lows Gap, TN, Tent
Danielle:
Overcast, windy, cold, spits of rain
Another glorious weather day on the AT. But oh well, what can you do but keep on hiking? The hiking was lots of little ups and downs along a treed-in ridge. Not too much of excitement, but we did make some good mileage. Ryan probably could have kept on going at the end of the day, but I was done. A bit tired out. Looking forward to a day off in Damascus, VA after tomorrow, without a doubt.
Highlight of the day: This afternoon, the trail meandered through an old pasture and as we got back to the woods, Ryan saw a streak of red. It was a Scarlet Tananger. Wow! Bright, candy-apple red body with black wings. And wait, there's more! We saw not one, but three male Tanangers, flitting around the edge of the meadow in amongst the brushy trees. Very, very cool! I hope our friend Scavenger saw them when he went through, as he was saying he really wanted to see one on the trail. There are lots of bird people out here, and Scavenger has a bird book so we tend to have conversations about birds we've seen, and used his book to ID the Grosbeak the other day too. Lots of fun!

Ryan:
cloudy, windy, coldish, few showers
yesterday's journal was not a reflection of how i felt. i felt pretty good, but i didn't feel like writing. now, on to today. today, was a typical day on the at: cold and rainy. it's getting a bit old. the cold is definitely getting to a lot of people. i don't mind it, but it would be nice not to wear everything i'm carrying every morning and evening. i don't want to wish the cold away, because it's the heat i really hate. shoulder thing is still there. it would be nicer if it wasn't. the good news is my masseuse is getting a lot better at working out the knot, and trust me, it's huge. hopefully, when it does get warmer, i can stretch it more effectively. other than that, we're ready for a day off...we're tired. not bad tired, just general trail tired. i think we're going to try to work in a few shorter days after damascus. (our stop tomorrow.) not just for the physical break, but the mental one. it's nice to hit camp early to have time to just relax. it's tough to get everything done and relax when you get into camp after 6:00. granted, it's not as hard or un-relaxing as, say, having a job, but being a professional hiker is hard work. in other news, power bars dipped in peanut butter are great and texas pete hot sauce makes every lipton noodle dish taste good. except of course, any that are billed as having brocoli...those are just rude and i'm certain that no actual brocolli was harmed in the making of those things.
today's song - distant sun, crowded house