2023 May/June Section Hike - Day 4 - NOBO Dennis Cove Rd to Boots Off Hostel

Miles Hiked: 8.4 (Hostel staff said it was more like 10. Felt like 12 to me) 

Day of Hike: 6-1-23

Started hiking about 11:45am after getting the car repositioned

So for only $15 a night you get a campsite, access to a nice bathroom, a wonderful shower and breakfast with coffee. Not a bad deal at all. Sherpa also treated me to a sandwich from the freezer, so I had a very nice breakfast indeed. 

Catching a shuttle back to our car. The plan is to get the car, return to the hostel, drop off everything we need for the night, drive up to our starting point and "slackpack" back to the hostel. So today's hike will be Northbound back to the hostel. We parked the car on Dennis Cove Rd, where we'll leave it for the night. 

Pond Mountain is our only climb for the day. but it's over 2k feet, so we'll get some exercise. 

Only 8.4 miles...bring it on. I'm ready to get back to Boots Off. Also splurged on a tent with a real bed...looking forward to being clean and comfortable. 

Nice flat trail for the first few miles, with some really interesting sections cut through the rocks. 

Stream is beautiful...we're following it to the waterfall. 

It's a simple thing, but I love it when trail maintainers make these kind of stone staircases. 

Just an easy, pretty stretch of trail. If you're ever in the Hampton, TN area, I recommend a day hike on the AT down to Laurel Falls. 

We made it....Pretty awesome waterfall. 

Time for a Pepperoni, Salami and Cheese wrap.

And a Pecan Pie

As we enjoyed the spot, Sherpa was suddenly attacked. Bear? no. Snake? no.  A Crawdad. Snuck out from under the rock and grabbed his foot. I think the plan was to grab him, drag him under the rock and eat him. You gotta give it to the little guy, he has ambition. Sherpa survived the attack uninjured. Look at his heel / the base of the rock if you want to see the attack in progress. 

Still able to walk after the crawdad attack, Sherpa shot down the trail and we started our climb. We decided not to pause for water before the climb. This was a mistake.  The day was starting to heat up and we quickly went through our water. According to my trail app, there was a water source further up the mountain, so all we could do was keep hiking. 

Can you see the stream of water shooting off the leaf? Thankfully, it's been rainly lately, so most of the way up the climb we came to an unreliable water source that had water.  We drank a bunch and filled our bottles. 

On the way down the other side of the mountain. We saw a large black snake. A bit later, we saw a garter snake (didn't get a picture). I joked "What's next...a Timber Rattler?" And then...less than a mile later....

The woods lit up with the sound of rattling on the hillside next to me...about 12 ft away. Huge Timber Rattler sunning himself on the hill. It's an unmistakable sound...I've heard it a few times. At the sudden loud sound of rattling directly to my right.....I rather eloquently exclaimed  "waaahaaawooooyaaaa!" and jumped. I have a way with words in moments like this. 

Sherpa moved in for pictures as I explained that the technical term for this critter is "Danger Noodle" and that sounds means "don't move in for a picture."  Pictures taken..we kept hiking and made it back to the hostel.  Time to dump our gear, shower, and make some dinner. 

While I showered and then made a pizza, Sherpa walked down to the lake and went for a long swim. I liked the idea of a swim, but not the idea of walking down to the lake, so I was happy to stay back at the hostel. 

Sherpa returned and we enjoyed an amazing frozen pizza. Simple foods taste so good when you've been hiking all day. 

Clean, well fed and ready to get a good night sleep, I headed down to the tent. One more day of hiking and then we get to go home. I always have mixed feelings toward the end of a  hike. On the one hand, I miss the comfort of home. On the other hand....humm....not coming up with the other hand. Yeah, always good to head home, I like indoor plumbing, air conditioning and comfort. Section hiking is quite different than a thru hike, Even on our longest section hikes (23 and 30 days)...we knew we'd be home fairly soon.  I'd definitely take some zeros if I were thru hiking, rest is a good thing.