Catawba Mtn Shelter

24.7 miles, 700.8 total.
incredible day. set another record of almost 25 miles.
again with the crazy weather! now add snow to the list below; all in one day.
received some great trail magic about 45 minutes after starting. a big cooler filled with fruit, water, soda, candy, and just about anything else one could want. yummy.
after that, it was straight up over 2000 feet. right on the edge of a ridge. one side was sunny an the other was rainy...then the sleet came, then the snow!
at the top of the ridge the trail ran into an old forest road that was wide and grassy. also, there was a wooden park bench right at the intersection. nice. I sat down and had a snack...and then the snow stopped and the sun came out. the trail followed the road to a memorial for audie murphy, the most decorated WWII US veteran. evidently he died in a plane crash at this site in 1971. got some pics an moved on.
the rest of the day is a little hard to explain. it was soooo difficult, and I swear the mileage charts on my maps are incorrect. went over rocky ridge after rocky ridge. really getting tired of them. then I got to the really big one. it's called Dragon's Tooth. I had to put away my trekking poles and climb on hands and knees for about 30 minutes to get to the top...and then do the same going down the other side. in some places there were metal rods drilled into the rock to help get up and down. wow.
when I finally got down, it was back through farmland and then up more rocky mountains. thank goodness there were no donkeys!! didn't get to the shelter until after 6:30. got everything ready for night and now finishing this. here by myself again. nice and quiet. tomorrow I can do 18 tough miles or split it into two days of 9 each. we'll see how I feel. my body already hurts from today and it's only been to hours since I stopped hiking.
later,
L


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