Day Seven: Red Clay Gap to just before the Cheese Factory site

It was a windy night. I was exhausted and drifting off to sleep while Chuck played music on his little mini-tablet, when all of a sudden we heard a noise. Or, actually, I really didn't hear it; I was half asleep. Chuck heard it, and he thought maybe it was a bear. So, he let out a large bark hoping that the bear would be frightened away. I essentially jumped out of my sleeping bag. It turned out to be branches moving in the wind. Chuck felt a little silly I think, but he did have a great dog impression.

We woke to mist and fog. We packed up our gear and prepared for another walk. I realized that it was Easter Sunday. I hoped we'd reach a spot where I could get reception on my phone so I could call my family.  As we set off for the day, we couldn't see particularly far in front of us (maybe 15 feet). The path was covered in small jagged stone slabs.  The fog made our journey a bit eerie but also quite beautiful. We were in good spirits, strolling contentedly.

When we walk together, Chuck usually has me go first. He doesn't really tell me why, but I doubt it's gentlemanly manners. I think it's because I'm slow, and he can ensure he doesn't push me too hard if I set the pace. Funny though, sometimes I think I work more when I have to lead. I don't want to disappoint or bore or frustrate the person I'm walking with. If I'm in the back and I fall behind... oh well, I expect that. In the front, there are "expectations." Most of the time, I know those expectations are something I make up in my head. Fortunately, I felt fairly confident today, and I was not really worried about whether I was moving quickly enough.

There's something about mist and fog that I just love. It makes me feel a little as though I'm walking through an enchanted forest. Or maybe it reminds me of England. The fog is not as dense as some of the days we spent on the Pennine Way last year. Although I miss England, it's nice that our path wasn't completely covered in mud.

We made our way down Blue Mountain to Unicoi Gap, where we met a trail angel named Crystal. Crystal was handing out bananas, Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and granola. She'd driven two hours to come and meet hikers and spread some kindness on Easter. Chuck and I got the last of the Reese's (lucky us!), and we hung out with Crystal and the others for a bit. The fog finally lifted as we sat.

    

We decided we should probably start moving again. So, we hoisted our packs and started to climb Rocky Mountain.  As I walked, I mused about how funny it was to find a "Rocky Mountain" outside of "the" Rocky Mountains.  The climb was relatively steep, 13% grade, but there were lots of things to see along the way - twisty tree-like vines, far off mountains, and our first flowers!

I was excited to see the little tiny flowers starting to come out.  I realized that I was getting an opportunity to really watch the season change from winter to spring - to see the small changes that happen from day to day or from hour to hour.  I normally am so busy working, living, running around that I don't always notice when things start to sprout and bloom.  I think it's good for me to have this time with nothing to consider but the world around me.

We reached Indian Grave Gap and saw a couple of groups of college-aged hikers had stopped to smoke some pot.  Chuck and I decided we'd keep moving... So much for looking around for the Indian graves! We started up Tray Mountain.  

I love this picture!

But... not as much as I love this one!

Our guidebook said we were approaching an old cheese factory site. It seemed an odd place for a factory. Maybe that's why it was an abandoned site.  We would never actually see it.  At this point in the day, Mother Nature decided She had been kind long enough. We'd heard all day about storms, and I can't really explain why we didn't move any faster earlier in the day. We were headed down the side trail towards the factory site and a water source when it started to pour! 

In England, we sometimes walked all day in the rain. You just had to deal with it there. But, Chuck was not very excited about spending time in this rain. We both got stressed out. We back tracked to a flat spot and started trying to set up the tent, in the rain.  It was just a bad decision all around. We were soaked, and now the tent was soaked too. Tempers flared. It wasn't pretty.

Eventually the rain stopped (and it was still light out). We moved the tent around and attempted to dry as much as we could. It was an early end to the day, and we were both frustrated with our earlier relaxed attitude. But, alas, we lacked the ability to go back in time. So, we lit a small fire and made some dinner. Slowly the stress level abated.