April 20
End: Lamberts Meadow Shelter
Miles: 33.1
Total: 2575.5
The day after my forty three mile day required more miles of my feet. I did not leave super early, but none of the other hikers were close to ready when I left. I knew they were section hikers because they cooked up breakfast as well as coffee in a frying pan.
An easy downhill stretch led me to early trail magic. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and beer! I partook of everything but the alcohol, and I stayed for a couple of hours.
My trail angel was Heavy, a Triple Crowner from Asheville who was meeting some friends for an easy weekend of hiking. His dog was an avid fan of fetch, and quite skilled. We talked while I ate for a couple of hours, downing two hamburgers, three hot dogs, and plenty of chips.
Eventually his friends arrived and I departed, knowing I would be seeing them later on in the day. Before that time, I had to traverse Dragon’s Tooth.
Dragon’s Tooth is a very rocky and steep mountain which took a considerable time to descend from. At a couple of spots someone had actually drilled iron bars into the rock to be used as a ladder. I was just thankful to be able to leave unscathed.
Unfortunately, my schedule was shot because I had not realized that the Dragon’s Tooth would slow me down. I went onward, finally reaching McAfee Knob and briefly talking to Slow Love, the moniker I had given Heavy and his friends based on a story they had told me of some intimate turtles.
Down I went, only to start the ascent towards Tinker Cliffs. Someone had bizarrely put up a warning sign for a Timber Rattlesnake they claimed was ten feet away. He was not. At Tinker Cliffs the sun was setting while I was attempting to find a white blaze among the boulders.
I picked the wrong path and struggled along at the foot of the cliff, following a path others had made, probably in the same error which led me to that spot. There were some interesting camping spots down there, but I was glad to find a spot at the end to climb the cliff with some difficulty and return to the trail.
By now it was getting dark, and I had to don my headlamp soon. I was surprisingly relaxed, given my strong dislike of night hiking after so many Florida road walks and bad experiences attempting to navigate in the dark. I arrived at Lamberts Meadow Shelter well after dark and did my dinner and talked to the residents, including Tommy Lee Jones.
Though we were being hounded by deer making strange barking noises, I got to sleep as they moved out of the area. One of the hiker’s cats roamed the area on mouse patrol, making my food bag feel safe.
