Day 35: Creepers

Hiked 17.5 miles, staying in Vandeventer shelter.

Breakfast was terrific and we made thru hiker friends giving out our extra eggs and bacon.  It was great to cook for ourselves for a change, we are definitely going to need to stay somewhere with a kitchen again.  Jane (POM's girlfriend) very kindly gave us a ride back to the trail, saving us a half mile walk.

The whole morning we spent walking along the side of the Laurel river.  In places we were walking in between two sheer cliffs which was pretty spectacular.  We had a steep rocky descent down into a gorge where we got to gawk at Laurel Falls.  The falls were immense and kicked up a lot of mist into the air.  It would have been very tempting to camp here if we got here at the end of the day.  We continued walking along the river, crossing multiple times over the river.  We haven't done much river walking yet this trip and it was nice to walk along and listen to the rapids.

Walking along the Laurel River

Path went between two steep cliffs

Crossing the Laurel River (one of many times)

Another canyon near the Laurel River

Laurel Falls (we are not super close, they are really big)

We had to walk along the edge of the cliff

If the river is high you have to take the 'Highwater Trail'

Crossing the Laurel River again

The gentle terrain and calming sound of the river gave way to the rude awakening that was the first big climb of the day.  We had to go up 2000 feet in 2 miles and then descend right back to the same elevation we started at.  This basically transitioned us out of the gorge and over to Watauga Lake.  It is a man made lake caused by an earthen dam and is enormous.  The trail hits the lake right at a recreation area so we stopped at the picnic benches there for lunch.

Sweet cloud photo

Looking down on Watauga Lake

Arriving at the recreation area on Watauga Lake

The lake is a little high right now...

That's Iron Mountain, our next climb

Time to move out

Due to the recent snow and rain in the area the lake is 7 feet above normal capacity and flooding is prevalent.  This includes a short segment of the AT and we had to take the official detour around it.  It was nerveracking walking down the side of a major road.  Cars move so fast!  We spent a bunch of time walking along the side of the lake to get around to the dam which we had to cross.  It was really nice to get such a picturesque walk during the early afternoon.

Watauga Dam

Looking out from the dam over the lower side

Looking back at the lake from the dam

After crossing the dam we immediately started climbing, fast.  We spent the entire rest of the afternoon ascending the tough ridge line of Iron Mountain.  Water was limited so we were feeling very dehydrated when we came to a spring.  There sat a guy leaning against a tree.  He had a big gallon bucket with him and for few minutes as I approached I thought 'hooray trail magic'!  Well as we got close we found him talking to himself and sitting next to a duffel bag.  He totally creeped us out and we decided we weren't quite as thirsty.  Apparently we found out later he has been there all day and occasionally preaching or yelling at people in broken spanish or russian or gibberish.  A few people tried talking to him in those languages and he would always switch to another language or stare straight ahead.  So yeah, first creeper on the trail, good times. He was the talk of the trail at the shelter, everyone had a story about their experience with him.

Looking back at Watauga Lake as we are climbing Iron Mountain

The view from Vandeventer shelter

We arrived at the shelter in good time and except for the water source being inconveniently located about half a mile straight downhill it is a really cool shelter.  The view behind it looks out over the lake and I spent most of my evening hanging out on the rocks there soaking it in.  Banyon caught up to us so he is staying in the shelter along with a new guy Blue.  Overall a great day!

View from the shelter later in the day

Sunset (facing away from the sun)

Sunset at Vandeventer shelter