Bubbles Day 42 (Sunday, May 8th, 2016)

Today's hike was very exciting. We stopped at a restaurant right off the trail and had burgers and beers about 4 miles into our hike. It was delicious and made me happy and FULL. The owner was funny and made us laugh a lot. 

The hike after lunch was easy until we got to Knives Edge.  It was a very scary, but cool experience. It was like walking/ hopping on the edge of a knife with steep drops on both sides. I am happy that I am not afraid of heights! The boulders were crazy. They were the size of cars! Robby was chatting away on the phone with his grandparents and acting like it was just a stroll through the park. He is crazy! I was shaky legged and holding on for dear life.  Even though there were incredible views I did not take my phone out of my pocket to take pictures!  I really had to concentrate to not fall off the side of the edge!  It didn't help that there were HUGE black spiders all over the rocks.  EWWW!!

The other thing that happened to me today was that I almost biffed it again on the trail.  Luckily my poles prevented me from falling flat on my face, however, I did hurt my ankle again.  I'm pretty sure at this point I need a few things:

1:  The pole that Papaw made for me has been splitting.  It is a lightweight pole made out of bamboo and I love it dearly, however I need to send it back home before it completely breaks and I lose some of it.  When I get a new pole I actually want a pair of poles that are even in length.  This might help with my ankle issues!

2:  Now that I am wearing trail runners (light tennis shoes) I don't have the same support for my ankles.  It's so easy to twist them.  I need to get some ankle supports.

Enough about that!  When we got to Oven Bake Knob I was so happy to be there. The tent was already up (thanks Robby) and I slept like a baby.   

It's the small things in life... like this flush toilet!

A great place to stop and have lunch!
Sprout, Bubbles, Smudgy Cheeks, Karma, and Mountain Man

Karma and Sprout climbing

Yes, if I take one wrong turn I would tumble off of a cliff!

Sprout climbing

Love how this tree is different from the others around it.

So Bake Oven Knob is more of a lean to

It's a bit run down and has graffiti all over it.

I thought this was a peaceful path

Loved walking under these trees!

Pinecone

Pinecone still on the tree