Dutch Haus

On Friday (5-20) I began hiking at 7:30 AM.  I climbed from 825 ft to 3,372 ft (Bluff Mt).  I had lunch at the Punchbowl Shelter.  I hiked with "Leap" and "Spot" in the afternoon.  I camped and ate dinner with Spot.  He's an older construction worker who has successfully thru-hiked the AT three times with the last time being in 2004.  In addition, he failed to thru-hike two additional times, once because of his injury (stepping off a curb while in Harpers Ferry, WV) and once due to illness of his daughter.  I set up my own campsite just off the AT, about 3 1/2 miles before Brown Mountain Creek Shelter.  I hiked 15.0 miles.  My hike on Saturday (5-21) began at 7:30 AM.  I cooked a late breakfast once I reached the Brown Mountain Creek Shelter.  I saw a nest of birds--Phoebe Fly Catchers.  There was a hiker in the shelter that knows types of birds like I know baseball players!  Here is a picture of them.

I saw my second white-tailed deer and a big groundhog as he crossed a dirt road.  He was 20 feet away and both of us stared at each other for several seconds.  Finally as I reached for my camera, he turned and went the other way.  When he was about 100 feet away, he stopped again, stared at me, and then continued to walk away.  Oh well, he must not have wanted his picture taken!  At 7 PM, I experienced trail magic again.  A day hiker (Jerry Nichols) gave me a bottle of Gatorade and 1 1/2 liters of water as I only had 1/2 liter left.  Thanks to Jerry, I was able to hike for another hour and be hydrated as well.  I camped at 8:15 PM at a designated site called North Fork of Piney River.  On Sunday (5-22) I hiked from 6 AM-8 AM in order to reach the Dutch Haus Bed and Breakfast.  I showered and charged my phone even though I had no service.  The owners did everyone's laundry too!  I went to church at 11 AM.  I was driven by friends of the bed and breakfast owners.  After church the couple drove me back to the Dutch Haus.  Two of their grandkids who were at church with them were also in the car on the way back.  I asked the boy (Nathan) his age.  He said he was three and on his next birthday he would be "this many" as he held up four fingers.  Before I could ask the girl (LeAnne) her age, she said, "I'm six.  Two of him makes one of me!"  It was cute and it made me laugh!  I enjoyed the free lunch given to all thru-hikers and a delicious dinner as well.  I resupplied in the afternoon.  On Monday (5-23) after a hearty breakfast at the Dutch Haus, the owner drove several thru-hikers to a place where we had to climb 900 feet over 1.1 miles just to get back on the trail.  I climbed over The Priest, a mountain with an elevation of 4,063 feet.