May 11 Mile 364

Started to rain in the early morning before we woke and it was cold , 40s. Thought this was May? Had to pack up everything in the cold rain and eat a breakfast of instant grits and coffee. Stuffing a wet tent into a bag is not too much fun- but we have been very fortunate and have very few rainy days and the AT is well known for rain. We hiked up Unaka Mtn right off- and it is an enchanted forest- it can be reached pretty easily by car and a short hike. The whole top of the mountain is covered in spruce trees. Their is no undergrowth due to the trees blocking out all light to the forest floor. The trail is full of fir needles making it all soft and springy. It was fantastic and a place I would like to return. It was very foggy on top as well and that probably added to the beauty. On the way down the muscle above my left knee began to hurt and bothered me alot the rest of the day - about 8 more miles. I sure hope it gets better by tomorrow- this hike is too much fun to have to quit. But I need to be realistic, only about 20% of those who start are able to complete it. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. Maybe I am still doing too many miles per day- about 12 today , as well as 13 yesterday. But we just get going and the next thing we know, the day is over and we've gone a long way. We do plan to slow down for the next few days to go over Roan Mtn. We are told how spectacular the mtn is and will take our time to find out. We will not see mtns this high again until we reach New England.
Tonight we are staying at the Greasy Creek Gap Friendly Hostel and it's terrific- about .6 miles off the trail . Here we can sit in rocking chairs on the front porch, see the mtns we will climb over, and eat real food! We actually stay in the owner, Connie's, house and she is super nice. No wild partying hikers here. Very pleasant.
Saw some "slack packers" today. That is an AT term for folks who find someone to either transport their pack further up the trail and they hike to it or, in the case of today, someone drives you miles up the trail and then you hike back to your pack or where you are staying. It's a way to hike the trail and not have to carry all that gear! Slack packing forward would be fun, hiking backward, I'm not so sure, as you do miss the continuity of the trail and the changes that come as you go, in our case, south to north. But whatever works for people is cool.
Hope the knee is better tomorrow.