Allen Gap, NC to Watauga Lake, TN

Day 3, Friday, May 25

Hogback Ridge Shelter to Big Bald Shelter, 10.1 miles

When I wake up at 7 AM, it's still pouring. No one in the shelter has stirred yet. I doze on until 7:30 AM before I get up. The rain hasn't quit yet. A few minutes after 8 AM, I eat breakfast and begin packing up. The rain has slackened substantially and at 8:40 AM, I'm off. I'm going to hike in my Teva sandals today. That'll be a first.

At 9 AM it begins to rain again. I reach Sam's Gap at 9:45 AM and the sky seems to be clearing. I cross the highway and head back into the woods on the other side. At 10 AM, the bottom falls out. It's pouring, and even under the tree canopy I'm getting soaked. I pull my backpack cover up over my hat so at least I won't drown. When it rains this hard I can pull my large cover out around the pack a little and it keeps most of me in the dry. Although the rain is cool, I'm generating enough heat to stay warm so far.

I meet "Venus" and another female hiker, "Almost There", coming back down the mountain headed for Sam's Gap. They had camped ahead last night and got drowned. They're hiking back to Sam's Gap and plan to hitch into Erwin to dry out.

The rain quits at 10:45 AM and I take a break at 11 AM and eat some crackers. It begins to drizzle again thirty minutes later, but I'm under a dense canopy of trees now so I'm not getting too wet. As I climb higher, the rain quits again. I'm in the clouds so everything is very foggy. It's hard to see very far up the trail.

I take a longer break at 1:10 PM at the Big Bald Bypass Trail. Nothing but uphill from here. It's 1.8 miles to the Big Bald Shelter. Doesn't look like I'm going to have much of a view from the top unless the sun does some serious work!

As I climb higher it begins to feel cooler. The temperature on top is a breezy fifty degrees, and it's socked in. Even the weather station on top of the bald looks cold. It's hard to see it from more than 50 yards away, so I press on. As I cross the bald and begin to head down, the sky below me is breaking up. There'll be sun in an hour.

As I leave the open grassy bald, I think to myself that this would be a great place from which to watch stars on a clear night. I stop in the trees below the bald and eat a Snickers bar. I'm only a few tenths of a mile away from the shelter now!

At 2:30 PM I see the shelter sign. It's just a few hundred yards off the trail. When I reach the shelter, I find no one there. I had half expected to find it full with folks who decided not to push on today with the weather being so miserable. I guess hikers learn to press on regardless of the weather.

I unpack, get water, wash up, and I'm back at the shelter before "Flying Bear" shows up at 3:45 PM. I cook soup and Ramen noodles for an early supper. I'm warm, full, and the sun is finally coming out. It's also warming up. "Jim Bowie" comes in followed shortly by "Nipples" and "Chuckles". They've picked up a straggler. A dog has following them down from the bald.

By 5:30 PM the sun is out and I'm almost completely dried out. I sit in the sun drying by wrinkled feet. Today is the first time I've ever hiked in my Teva sandals. And I covered ten miles. It was refreshingly cool on my feet, except that I blistered the bottoms of my toes on the sandals. I also have one rubbed spot that will need a little bandaging. I guess I'll live. Hiking in the Teva's kept my shoes dry and it actually felt great hiking in the wet grass with nothing covering my feet.

Bruno finally comes in after 6 PM followed by "Hiker Chick" and "Lucky Duck". "Detour" ambles in at 7:30 PM. While the others continue cooking and eating, I walk back up to Big Stamp at 8:15 PM to watch the sun go down and the stars come out. The view from the top of Big Stamp is gorgeous. There is a thin sliver of Moon hanging in the western sky. When it's almost too dark to see, I walk back to the shelter. I find everyone already in bed and some snoring. I turn in at 9:45 PM after eating another candy bar.