June 16th: Monsoon Season in Tennessee, Kujo, and Tree Houses

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Torrents of rain came down until after midnight. Small streams coursed around
the shelter piers, water drumming on a metal roof lulled us to sleep. 5AM the
thunder clapped directly overhead echoing for what seemed five minutes or more.
Rain came down by the inch. Time to roll over, pull the sleeping bag close around
your neck and go back to sleep. Rain continued until almost 9AM. I got up about
8 and made a cup of hot joe and watched the water rearrange the pine needles and
twigs in front of the shelter. There were three front steps with all but the
last one dry, this made the perfect spot to perch with a morning cup of hot
coffee. CC
rolled out at 9 to hot cream of wheat for breakfast. After the rain stopped and
the clouds started to break we hit the trail at 10AM.
We made good time at first to the south end of Watauga Lake. There are camp
sites there for car campers. We exchanged pleasantries with a few and kept
moving. At the third or fourth camp we spooked a dog and it began to bark at us.
We walked on. As we passed the site Kujo came after us. CC was in front of me
and the dog behind. I called to the campers to please control their dog. They
replied it was a stray! Kujo kept coming angry as ever and with a menacing
growl/bark. The woman said the thing was harmless, the dog showed otherwise. I
had turned to face the hound down with my trekking poles. He was a big brute and
looked like a hound-Rottweiler mix, about 90lbs or so. The woman intercepted the
dog and grabbed his collar without any problems. The dog was still focused on CC
and I! She held him until we were out of site. All was quiet for maybe two
minutes. Then we heard Kujo higher up the hill and headed our way barking all the
way. CC moved out smartly and I dropped back to deal with the beast again. He hit the trail about 15' behind me and slowly moved towards me. Trekking pole in hand I decided to take the offense and rushed the dog waving my poles and yelling. Kujo backed away growling. After a minute or so he backed off and we moved down the trail very quickly.
Leaving Watauga Lake we headed up Pond Mtn. A 1,600'climb in 3.5 miles. I'm
not sure if it was Kujo or just good conditioning, but we made the top in just
over an hour. Once on top at Pond Flats we stopped for a bite to eat. Off the
far side of the mountain and down to Lural Fork, an 1,800' drop in two miles.
Lural Fork was running high with all the recent rain and we could hear the water
roaring long before we could see it. We weaved along the bank watching for some
falls mentioned in the guide book. We saw much activity from beavers. There is
one spot where you creep on a ledge just above a rapids, got some great photos.
Then we came to the falls. These were the largest we have seen on the trail yet,
some 90' plus and running full tilt. The climb out was tough up stone stairs,
but compared to the regular folks who had been down looking at the falls. We
seemed to be running up the rocks like mountain goats playing.
We arrived at the Kincora Hostel about 5PM, a bit longer of a day time wise
than I had expected. The 10.7 miles took a little longer because of stopping at
all the great photo spots. No one was here when we arrived so we made our selves
at home like the sign said. CC and I had a shower and were eating supper when
Bob and Pat returned home with a couple of hikers they had driven to town. Our
bounce box had not arrived yet (Update, the box was here. My penmanship was bad
and Bob thought it said "Murrey") so Bob drove us into town to buy supplies. CC
and I had put our stuff upstairs in the hostel when we arrived. When we got back
from town Bob and CC walked behind the building and were gone for a few minutes.
Upon their return CC informed me we had a new place to sleep. In Bob's spare
time he had just finished a tree house for sleeping. We are settled in for the
night in the new digs. It is supported by three trees and a post some 20' up.
Windows face the east and are supposed to show a great sunrise.

Patrick, Deborah Mooney aka OD & CC
All Who Wander Are Not Lost

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