5/6/15 – Bailey’s Gap Shelter – 15miles
Today was a really good day on trail. We took lots of snack breaks in beautiful spots. We lunched at a shelter while the sun was streaming through the trees and a nap was had too. Naps are truly wonderful.
We stopped at a place called “Captains” which was described in the trail guide in such a way it was a major topic of discussion and wonder for us. The guide mentioned it had a zip-line and sure enough, right off the trail was a zip-line that took you over a small river. Once across, we were greeted by two collie mixes and a few other hikers we’d been leap frogging with. “Captain” actually allows hikers to camp in his yard, which includes a luxury fire pit (with Dura flame starter logs at the ready), huge picnic tables and a fridge full of free soda. We played with the dogs for a while and Roub and I downed some soda. Although we found the place very tempting, we decided to push on. We were bummed to never meet “Captain.”
After a steep and sweaty climb from Captain’s, we came to a surprisingly empty shelter just in time to watch a brief rainstorm pass over. After lounging for a bit Tornado Tim the Lizard King and Cruise Control arrived with stories of bear sightings; a momma bear and two cubs.
Tomorrow we will be five miles away from Mountain Lake Resort, which is where Dirty Dancing was filmed! Fontana Dam reminded me so much of Dirty Dancing but I never would have expected to be so close to the actual filming location. It’s weird how much I have thought of this movie while hiking the AT. Roub has promised me that there is even a building at Mountain Lake dedicated to memorabilia from the film! EEEEEEE! We all have high hopes of hitching in tomorrow for brunch. I can only hope their food is named after things related to the movie. Surely they have a “Swayze Burger.”
Overall, the trail was pretty quiet today. We may have left the bubble of hikers we’ve been in since leaving Pearisburg, VA as most of them zeroed there. We are holding out for a zero at Roub’s house in a few days and maybe a day of slack packing. I can only hope the next few days are as beautiful and quiet like today.
Random Songs Stuck In My Head: Boot Scooting’ Boogie – Brooks & Dunn
Whatta Man – Salt N Peppa
In The Still of the Night – The Five Satins
