April 3
End: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles: 19.6
Total: 2146.9
The day came for me to leave Chuck Norris and Tigger at the Laughing Heart, and continue north. I had to pick up groceries, so Lake went on ahead. After fumbling around trying to find my way out of town, I did and started climbing up away from the river. I passed by Lake and kept going after saying goodbye.
The hike out of town was uphill, but not unreasonably difficult. I passed by several of the hikers that I had met and hung out with in Hot Springs including Creature and So Far, a couple of brothers from the same part of Pennsylvania as Lake.
I arrived at a state road and saw a sign for trail magic food at a nearby house. I went there and was greeted by Hercules and FAL, a couple who thru-hiked the trail years ago. They served fantastic Belgian waffles, stew, and a brownie sundae.
Afterwards they talked to us about life after death and offered us Christian books to take with us. I noticed a pamphlet from Campus Crusade for Christ, and talked briefly about that since I was involved with them in college.
Pretty soon it was time to leave, and I hurried off down the road, anxious to hit the trail again. I powered uphill as thunder boomed off to the East. My iPhone told me that it was going to rain in North Carolina, but I was almost to Tennessee. I wasn’t sure about the weather at the border.
Finally I arrived at the first shelter from the road. I decided that I was staying because the skies looked dark. Sure enough, twenty minutes later the rain started, and it poured. It felt great to be dry and have a spot in the shelter.
The rain didn’t let up, and soon soaking wet hikers came trickling in, some wanting to sleep in the full shelter. We made a little room for a couple of guys, and the rest got their tents set up when the rain lightened up a tiny bit. I slept fairly well, as I usually do in the shelters. The fact that we were packed in there did not really bother me.
