4/28/01
Today was a big hiking day for the scouts of troop 33. The morning began at 6:30 a.m. after a beautiful night (except for 1 minute of rain which apparently was a big hello to the scouts). John M. fed us some great omelettes then we began the hike from Watauga Dam up to Iron Mountain shelter. The troop started fast but we soon encountered a steep long climb which slowed us down to a crawl. The adults in particular were feeling the pain of steep uphill in combination with not being in shape. Frank had some nasty blisters on his heels after only 4 miles which he and I taped up for the remainder of the trek. Suffice it to say it was a LONG day of hiking and it was 7 p.m. before all scouts and adults were safely into camp. I had a wonderful time hiking with them all and it was a nice break for my legs and feet to go slow for a change. We set up camp around the shelter and were mixed in with some thru-hikers. John M. and assistants prepared an awesome dinner (amazing how tuned in I am to FOOD) including a rice dish with our homemade troop barbeque, my recipe for broccoli salad, and tapioca pudding for dessert. After all that I was still hungry and ate some trail food. Hiker hunger has struck. Thru-hikers at the shelter included Fiddler and Joe, Brooklyn, Cusi, Tea Tree, River Wizard, Jeopardy and Java, Samurai, Kodiakak and Lollipop, plus 18 scouts and 10 adults. Fiddler played for an hour in the waning light by a small fire as everyone wound down, took their Vitamin I (Ibuprofen), and found their way to their beds after a challenging but rewarding day of hiking in perfect weather. I was hoping for more interaction between the thru-hiker group and the scouts, but I guess the mindsets and goals are so different it would take a couple more days together on the trail for that to happen. Today's stats; low 43 degrees, high 80. Sunny. Today's mileage; 14.0; cumulative mileage 428.8.
