Tuesday may 14

Left War spur shelter (662.8) at 830am.
Lunch at laurel creek shelter (668.6) at noon, arrive at sarver  hollow shelter (675.0) at 5pm.
Beautiful day for hiking...high temperature about 70. Below freezing temps last 2 nights. Poor zag is freezing to death in her 45 degree bag. She slept in her tent to be a little warmer. I forgot to tell you it snowed on us twice yesterday...I'm pretty sure the smoky mountains scarred me for life..I have a different reaction to snow flakes than before... Wonder has been replaced by dread.
I also sent home my frogg toggs which were replaced by my bright yellow mountain hardwear rain jacket, my owl hat was replaced by a wide brim sun hat, pillow stuff sack not replaced; I gained a pullover fleece top for warmth,  as a pillow and as a layer under my rain jacket.
We had to walk 0.4 miles off the trail & down many switchbacks to get to the shelter. When I went to get water, there were 2 abandoned and dilapidated cabins. One wooden and one stone. Very neat old structures...I wonder who lived there...
This shelter is my favorite design so far, simply because there is a covered wooden deck where the picnic table is rather than dirt and no cover. How nice it would be to have either 2 overhead doors or sliding barn doors to open from my common area to the  fresh air outside...one opening to a screened area and one opening to a big covered deck...and a hot tub..and a beer fridge .....and a massage therapist..oh wait..sorry.
In the shelter with me tonight: Alex (no official  trail name, but being called onyx by these other two?), stumble& temp...never seen them before..apparently they do big miles, so probably won't see them again!

Tomorrow we plan to do 14 Mikes to pickle branch shelter with a nasty looking climb: looks long and steep on the elevation profile. It's probably not a good idea to look at the profile as it is usually deceiving: looks harder than it is, or worse, looks easier than it is...
Pics:
Cool things on my walk today:
Keffer oak..18+ feet in diameter & over 300 years old; lots of caterpillars coming out of their silky tree houses; red catchfly flowers ; a relative of yours..