Woke up rested and refreshed after tenting next to the river. Sleeping with the fly open on my tent let a gentle breeze through all night long.
After a brisk climb of pond mountain, we descended upon watauga lake and dam. The dam is still a functioning hydroelectric power plant put up by the TVA in the 40's. Even though the lake was beautiful with picnic tables, bathrooms, and a nice beach, I didn't tarry too long as it threatened to vortex away my time on a good hiking day.
After starting to hike again, or maybe while sitting at the beach, I noticed it was hot, not yet humid, just hot. Drank a lot of water and sweated probably most of it right back out during the climb to the shelter. The climb seemed to have a steeper grade than usual. It was rather obvious we were climbing quickly by looking at adjacent mountains. After dodging a threatening thunderstorm, we arrived at the Vanderverder shelter (434.0). It has a view!
Really enjoying following along on the blog man. Keep up the good work!
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