Iron Mountain Shelter 442.9

In the morning Bob dropped us off at the Shook Recreation Area from where we continued on the trail. We hiked along Watauga Lake, which is almost completely closed to any other activity than hiking the AT. This is because a hunter used to put dog food as bait to the Shelter so they could easily shoot the bears when it's hunting season :( Idiots!
Right when we were moving across the dam we got in a huge downpour which lasted almost the whole afternoon.
Despite being completely soaked, we still made almost 16 miles!

A few more words about Bob because he is such a fascinating man. Originally from Massachusetts the 70ish year old owns this property close to the AT. He extended it to host hikers and still builds more facilities like the tree house we stayed in. He can accommodate about 26 people and does it basically for free! There is just a suggested donation of 5$ which is used to cover the cost for water, electricity. And if there is any money left he uses it for trail maintenance.Read more