From the Journals: DAY 46

Coach
Niday Shelter - Cataba Shelter: 25.2 mi
Today, we got a good start and the sun made its presence known quickly, which was awesome after two straight days of rain. We ate lunch right before a popular local landmark aptly called Dragon's Tooth-- it was a really excellent place and I see why it was so popular. We saw more people today on the trail leading up to Dragon's Tooth than any previous section of the AT. We also must really stink, because two people made comments to that effect. Another thing we discovered was that we finally think we are in trail shape. We figure you have to be in good shape if 2/3 though a 25 mile day, you can get off the trail, hike 1/2 a mile to a gas station, chug two 20 oz. bottles of water, a 20 oz gatorade, a 16 oz can of beer, and eat 2 bars of ice cream with a lemon cake, and then hike the rest of the day. Unfortunately, we lost time to go to the gas station, but we didn't really have a choice, since we were out of water and the water source was screaming bacteria and giardia. Of course, the ice cream and beer really helped boost the team's morale. The only bad thing about the excursion was that the tap water from the bathroom had a lot of iron in it and therefore tasted like blood. So, we got to drink "blood water" til we were able able to find another clean water source. All in all a very good day.

Professor
Climbed out of the fog and mist into a bright blue sky with the sun shining. The Earth was steaming today. On top we were in a cloud sea with Mountain islands. I asked Coach if he felt at home in the "sea"...

We were puddle jumping in the fog this morning. The Trail was totally flooding in the lower valleys. One of us would jump, then the other would throw the packs over, and make his leap. No good H20; 1/2 mile to a gas station at the road crossing, filled up on water in the bathroom, ate ice cream, a 16 oz Budweiser, Gatorade and Iced lemon cake.

Today was the first day of Spring. Coach and I are both very sunburned.