Dates ........ Monday, September 24, 2001
Miles ........ 15.5 miles, climb 2900 feet
From ........ Braemar Hostel (the Castle), Hamton, TN.
To .............Iron Mt. Shelter
Weather ... Rain, 50's, 60's, rain and mist, cloud mist and rain in higher elevations, breezy .

Monday, September 24, 2001

Watauga Lake and Dam, Iron Mountain Ridge 2000 to 4000 feet elevation

Up at 5:30 after a good night's sleep, shower, eat breakfast of bananas, pastries, orange juice and granola bars. Meet Mr. Brown at his market at 7:30, drive to post office and retrieve my supply package. Sort through it, send back film, map, trail guides and notes, anything extra. As we exit the post office it starts raining hard. Sutton Brown takes me back to his store, or rather, his complex of stores. He allows me to use the packing area in back to put my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together, wrap them and reorganize my pack.

While waiting for him, I look around the hardware and farm supply store. It reminds me of when I had my first job as a clerk and handyman in the local hardware store back in the 60's. Only maybe a little more old fashioned. None of his stores had computerized checkouts, scanners, or, for that matter, anything to do with today's technology. The 68-year young hardware salesman was waiting for the hardware manager, with his 12-inch thick catalog and carbon copy order forms, ready to business, as he put it, "the good old way." He was retired but Brown's was one of six accounts he kept because it was fun. Everything on the shelf was tagged with a price; barcodes were of no use here. He had everything from nails and screws of every imaginable type and size to roofing, plow points and harrow disks, chain saws, ammunition, boots and Carhart work clothes. All inventories were manually controlled. Ditto the grocery store. This place was fascinating, like a working museum. I can't say neat.

Sutton Brown took me up to the trailhead where the AT crosses US route 321, wished me well and bid me farewell as the rain pelted us. I scrambled down the road bank and followed the blazes around the west end of Watauga Lake until I crossed a stream and came to the Watauga Lake Shelter. There was a shelter with a register. The rain had let up and I was too warm in my raingear so I took it off. I continued on the trail until I came to Watauga Lake dam. Sutton Brown had told me that, until recently, it was the largest man-made earthen dam in the world. I could see on the lower side of the dam where it was packed by rolling it in tiers. I took photos of the dam, spillway and Iron Mountain Fault I do think it strange that they would build a dam, with a huge lake behind it, right on or next to a fault line.

Watauga Lake Dam and spillway with Iron Mountain fault behind spillway.

I pressed on across the dam and up the road, over the hill., crossing the Watauga Dam Road again. There I met a deer hunter trying to track down a wounded deer. Then I began climbing the nose of Iron Mountain. There I met Magoo and Sleepy Scout, the second and third southbound thru-hikers to come through. They were also of the ultralight persuasion, carrying only 10 pounds apiece in their skimpy Go-Lite packs. They were functioning well and enjoying their hike. We exchanged web addresses so we could check out each other's journal. They voiced one concern; having enough gear if it suddenly turned colder on them. I found it interesting that as light as they were traveling they each carried umbrellas. They were only the 2nd and 3rd hikers in all my AT experience to do so. They explained the umbrellas (obvious) function and use on the trail. I could see how it could work. They were a lovely couple and I was very pleased to have met them.

As I climbed up onto Iron Mountain ridge, my views diminished as the trail got into the level of the clouds on this overcast day. Soon, I could not even see the shoreline of the lake below. The last part of the lake I saw was a marina in a cove on the other shore. It was cool enough to be refreshing, rather than oppressive and sticky. Though wet, cool and damp, and with diminished views, I enjoyed hiking in this weather because it was far more comfortable than warm days with high humidity.

On the ridge I met "Ed" a section hiker with a pack to end all packs. It was the biggest pack I had ever seen a human being wear. It had to be three feet wide and as high, and 12 inches thick. He said it only weighed 60 pounds but it had everything he needed. There you have it folks - on this hike I've seen the whole spectrum of pack weight from monstrously heavy to reasonable to lightweight to ultra ultra light.

The three hikers I met passed word along that there was no water at the shelters ahead. This being a high ridge like those found in PA, only higher, I took them at their word and carried extra water. It made my pack noticeably heavier but one cannot be without water. I took a break at the Vandeventer Shelter. I took off my boots and massaged my aching feet, wrung out my socks, and ate a candy bar before pressing on. I am very unhappy with my Gore-Tex boots. It was raining on and off - mostly on, but the cloud mist was constant. The wind increased and the temperature dropped as the day went on - I sensed a weather front moving in.

Just before the Iron Mountain shelter I found a spring that was trickling water, probably from the current rains. It was enough to fill my needs. It felt so good to reach the shelter at 5:30 PM, change into my dry socks and sneakers, eat, and rest my weary body and all its parts, especially my aching feet. Alone at the shelter, I got a news update, listened to some classical music, and went to bed. It definitely was getting colder. I couldn't find a privy at this shelter, but there was a shovel with a bright orange handle. That must mean it's a dig-your-own self-service privy. Not a problem, but I sure hope it won't be pouring or snowing tomorrow morning when I need it most!

I fell asleep listening to the sounds of wind blowing through the trees, chestnuts and acorns falling to the ground. I woke up cold in the middle of the night and put some clothes on, then fell back to sleep.

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