I left the airbnb bus and was dropped off by my hosts in the morning. This section was amazing as it took me along some beautiful and cool(temp) streams. There is just something about walking along a creek that flows into a larger river that is so satisfying. Along the way I passed several water falls that were also making thier way down to the Elk River.

I made my way to Mountaineer Shelter for lunch. I was just walking back from filtering water when the first rain drops began to fall. I decided that it would be best to eat under the shelters roof.

Soon I was joined by 2 bears and another hiker I had met after Hotsprings, Loon. We at lunch as the rain drifted from drizzle drops, but I left after a short lull in the rain.

Here's something about hiking in the rain. If it's not below 50 degrees out, you're just gonna get as wet wearing your rain jacket from sweat as you are in the rain. So you might as well enjoy the free shower. So after putting my pack cover on, I made my way into the precipitation. To be honest, I enjoyed the wet walking. It keep me cooler as I went up and down the ridges on my way to the Mooreland Gap Shelter.

Thanksfully, the rain was in a vrief pause as I got to camp and I was able to set my tent up with just the drops coming off the trees. My pack cover did pretty well for hiking 5 hours in the rain, but my wayer proof stuff sacks had some water on the outside, but the insides were dry. Unfortunately, it started raining as I was making dinner, so I finished eating the the shelter with the rest of the hikers. It was there I ran back into Metric, a hiker who I spent the first night of my trail with back at Stover Creek.

After dinner I headed to my tent to shed my wet clothes, thankfully my puffy jacket was dry and keep me toast until I climbed into my sleeping bag.

Slipping on wet clothes the next morning was just part of being on the trail. Thankfully I had dry socks to put into my damp shoes, but the did my feet well as I headed to Lake Watauga and the Boots Off hostel.

The journey down was a nice ridge walk to a mount stream that flowed down to the lake. Unfortunately, the ~7miles before the hostel went up 1500ft and over with switchbacks that seemed to brushtroke across the mountainside. However, once you got on the other side, you had great views of Lake Watauga.

I had reserved a cabin at the hostel and did laundry while I took a shower. There was a group doing a cookout for hikers so I grabbed a burger and dog as I waited for my lau dry to finish. They even had icecream sundaes for dessert. Later I would have a pizza as my second dinner along with several pieces of fruit. I have truely settled into my hiker hunger. I can't wait to hit up some AYCE places.

Summary of Progress:

• Miles Completed: 35

• Total Miles Completed: 430.6

• Location: Tennessee

• Weather: Cloudy to rain to sunny day