April 2

Welcome to North Carolina

So all the excitement of crossing the border into the second state on the trail is quickly qwelled by Courthouse Bald.  Right out from my campsite at Bly Gap, I struggled up the steep grade and switchbacks.  Welcome to NC, now climb this mountain.  Thanks Trail....sigh.  My knee still hurts a bit, and that climb didn't help.  I'm glad I didn't try to push on last night with everyone else.  Plan to do another 'short' 9 miles or so today.  Hiking alone for the first time today too, so that's different.  The rest of the trail today has been pretty nice.  Passed another Sassafras Gap, there seems to be a lot of mountains and gaps named that in these parts.  Just past the first shelter today, was a side trail called 'chunky gal trail', that made me laugh.  But what I was really excited for was where I planned to camp for the day, on the top of Standing Indian mountain.  The summit is at 5498 feet above sealevel, and my first 5000 footer of the hike.  The trail was nicely graded, I took my time, and still got to the summit with hours of daylight left.  Soon after, a older man named James, and his grand-daughter Jessie came to the top.  We enjoyed the views to the south from the summit, and set up our tents on the grassy summit, and began cooking our dinners.  They gave me some leftover ingredients that they had to make a personal pepperoni pizza cooked right over the coals of our campfire.  Delicious second dinner!  In talking to James, I learned he is a Baptist preacher at a church in the nearby town of Franklin.  I showed him my waterproof Bible, and he thought that was a great idea.  His grand-daughter was saying that she wanted to get him one as a gift, so I hope she was able to do so.  Mine only has the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs, and I've been trying to read a verse from Proverbs every night before I good to bed.  Honestly, I haven't really read any scripture for a long, long time.  Hopefully some wisdom and guidence will rub off!  A section hiker named Jeremy, out with his son and a friend rolled into camp too.  Six of us at the summit of this grand mountain, watching the sun set over Lake Chatuge.  The stars came out, the moon was nearing full peak, and we gazed at Jupiter, Venus, and Mars (confirmed planet sightings using Jeremy's Iphone app).  Jeremy shared a nip of 12 year aged scotch from his stash of "good stuff".  I usually don't like dark liquor much, but it was exceptionally good.  It was chilly at our elevation, but I got the best night sleep yet on the trail.

Sunset from Standing Indian Mountain.