Mile 368.3
Elevation 4,419
Miles Hiked 9.1
The day started out with me performing surgery on my right big toe. A blister formed under the nail, so I clipped that sucker and broke the blister at the same time. A little disquieting to see the blood spurt out. I had some medical tape, but it was so old I couldn’t get it off the roll. To the rescue – a gauze pad and Duct tape.
I got a late start because of the medical procedure I performed. There was water at the previous shelter and I had loaded up. So I did some house cleaning before leaving.
Although the distance was the shortest hiked so far, it was a series of ups and downs that was somewhat taxing. During the hike I came upon some hunters. It’s my understanding they aren’t supposed to hunt on the trail, but there they were.
The hunters use dogs to chase down and tree bears. I could hear a lot of barking from several dogs as I hiked. Eventually, there was only one dog still in range and he seemed to be getting closer. Finally, it was clear the dog was going to catch up to me within minutes, so I stopped and watched the trail. Sure enough, he came running up the trail. The hunting dogs have GPS tracking devices on them. This dog had two rabbit ear antennas on a collar around his neck, so I know he was hunting. Well, he runs toward me and stops about five feet away. I look at him and say, “Do I look like a bear to you?” I swear, the dog got a dejected look on his face, turned around and silently walked away. The owner of that dog needs to do some serious re-training of the dog. Either that or I have a hygiene problem.
I heard no more dogs this day.
Kept crossing back and forth across the North Carolina and Tennessee borders.
I reached the shelter by 3:00 PM. A hiker in a kilt was already there. Pat was just hanging around, so we struck a conversation and built a nice campfire. Pat wasn’t hiking, per se. He had lived with his father while taking care of him during a long illness. When his father died, his siblings and he inherited their father’s house. The siblings decided to sell it rendering Pat homeless. Since he had not been working during the time he cared for his father, he had no money and was left to fend for himself. With a masters degree in psychology, he hoped to land a counseling job but for now, he was just hanging out.
Pat and I pretty much talked until bedtime. Two other hikers came in, but they pitched tents. One was a southbound thru hiker, and the other a young woman out hiking by herself. They joined in for awhile, so it made for some interesting conversation.
