Jerry's Cabin

6/19
Started at Log Cabin Drive
Ended at Jerry's Cabin Shelter
10.1 miles

Started the day with breakfast in the hostel and went on to have a really great day. The kids had a great time at lunch playing follow the leader. Then Sydney called cashews, pecans, this caused all the kids to start laughing. For the next few hours they sang songs about pecans.

After lunch we had the great view of Tennessee and made it to the shelter around 5. The hike took us 8 hours so we were all tired, but I made us shower and built a fire anyway. The water was cold so our dinner drinks were great, but the shower was not fun for the kids. Pete was the least happy about it and Harvey said the cold water felt good. Sydney didn't complain at all and didn't even use the towel to dry off.

I really learned how to better manage the hike today. We split a Hammer Energy Bar at our first food break and then had the other part later in the day. We did this with lunch too, so we had more eating breaks than usual. We also set breaks based on features (view, road, trail junction, water, etc). The kids were motivated by the destination and the food. I think we had more energy late in the day by doing our food this way and the hike seemed to go smoother. We still use the 25 min hike and 5 min rest timer, but are not so ridged in following it.

A mouse just ran across my foot as I type this. We saw one earlier run under the table, but this is the first shelter we have seen one. Normally you hear more talk about them than actually see them. I always hang my food and have mouse resistant food bags from Ursack, with special zip top bags inside that are supposed to reduce the food oder.

I took the photo of Pete using my headlamp to highlight Pete while leaving the fire to shine on its own.