Sometime after midnight, something woke me up. There were footsteps. Heavy footsteps. Heavy footsteps coming closer, along the left side of the shelter. As soon as I realized that it wasn't a person, I said to Misty, "Blow your horn!" She said, "Are you for real?" "YES!" She blew it several times and then we were all awake. I didn't find out until morning that Kara had heard the footsteps before they woke me and they had woken her, too. I can't say for sure that it was a bear, but I also can't imagine what else would make those heavy footsteps. So, we were all awake. I think we were all getting pretty annoyed with the bears or whatever was out there disturbing our slumber. It didn't take too long for us to settle down and drift back to sleep.
We woke again with the sunrise, and it was quite chilly. Our feet were still a little tender from the day before, but the rest had done us all good and we were ready to tackle another day.
We only had 14 miles to go today, and that included another stop at a wayside for those famous blackberry shakes. We packed up our gear, made our quick breakfasts, and we were ready to go.
The terrain to start the day was a little different than the day before. There were lots of tall grasses and wispy, tall trees.
Then the trail changed. It became quite apparent that we were hiking through a previous wildfire area. The trees were black and sparse, and the undergrowth was just coming back. This went on for several miles.
I did manage to come across a random animal tail, so I'm calling that good luck.
We made it to Elkwallow Wayside right at lunchtime and were thankful that this spot was right off the trail. We had been singing songs all morning, so when the opportunity came for me to literally suck on a chili dog, I went for it.
The sun was shining, and we had a table on the back patio. We sat for a long time, enjoying this perfect fall day before moving on. We had only six miles to go, but that included a biiiiig climb. It was time to get moving.
We climbed, and climbed, and climbed up to Hogback Overlook. Even with the climbing, the trail was pretty gentle, and we made good time covering the miles.
On the way back down we came through Little Hogback Overlook, and what day would be complete without another crossing of Skyline Drive?
A steep downhill side trail led us to Gravel Springs Hut, which would be our home for the night. It was Friday, and we were happy to be arriving early enough in the day to hopefully get a spot in the shelter for our last night on trail. When we arrived, though, we found two men sound asleep in the shelter. At 3:00pm. Hmm. We didn't know what to do. Were they taking a nap and continuing on? Were they there for the night? We decided to quietly unpack and then get a fire started. Maybe they guys would wake up, and we could get their story.
We were as quiet as four girls could be unpacking packs, setting up sleep systems and making a fire, but eventually the two guys kind of woke up. The girls did a great job getting a fire going and while we hung out around it, more people came into camp. First, there were two brothers out doing half the trail southbound, and then a mom with a 12-year-old and a baby on her back. These two groups both were tent camping. Finally, the two men were fully awake and made some dinner. We all hung out chatting and getting to know each other a little, while we kept our toes warm by the fire.
In the end, we'd be sharing the shelter with the two guys and no one else. They moved way over to one side, and we took the other side. This left Kara way on the far right side of the shelter, under the bunk above. She was a little leery of spiders, but I thought it would be okay. There were very few hooks for our packs here, so we hoisted a couple way up high and found a lower hook for the other two. We were unable to stash our bear canisters inside the metal bear box at camp because someone had left a bunch of trash in the box, as well as a lot of food, including fruit, which had rotted. So, we closed that back up and just left our canisters outside of it. The guys had already gone back to sleep, so we sat a while and quietly chatted in the red lights of our headlamps.
Eventually, out of boredom rather than tiredness, we called it a night. I think Misty fell asleep instantly. Over the next couple of hours, other people came into camp, some less quietly than others. And a couple people somewhere nearby were having a very loud conversation well past midnight.
And then there was another development. Every time time things got quiet and still inside the shelter, I could hear...nibbling. There was definitely a mouse in there. Of course, Kara heard it too, because it sounded to me like it was right by her head! I could hear "nibble, nibble, nibble" and then Kara would rustle, and then "SLAM!" She'd bash the wall or the floor in attempts to scare the mouse away. Her efforts were in vain, though. The nibbling continued. I didn't know what it was nibbling on, but I hoped it wasn't any of our gear!
Eventually, everyone at camp settled down, and the nibbling must've lulled me to sleep. This would be our last night on the AT-tomorrow we'd be hiking out.
Total Daily Mileage: 14.09
Total Calories Burned: 2,920
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