Pond Mountain and Subway Pt 1 of 2

The very sound of it is idyllic and sweet.  "Pond Mountain".  You picture a pretty little pond, lilypads, frogs, perhaps a wood nymph or two, or Pan playing his pipes as the animals frolic about.

Yeah right.  The reality of Pond Mountain is an 1800 foot vertical elevation change over about 2 miles, with limited views and no real reward at the top such as a panoramic vista or any of the aforementioned items.  I am not even certain I actually saw a pond.

After three days of high humidity, heat, and assorted issues with water, I was ready for a break.  The day before I had floated the idea of skipping Pond Mountain and joining Laura (who had hiked this already last year, and was also planning to skip it to ensure her knees would last the entire trip) on a shortcut to Watauga Lake park.  I was fighting with assorted symptoms of dehydration and was experiencing "day four syndrome" where the cumulative effects of this much exertion were playing a role in mental fatigue.

Andy has been pushing me to reconsider, and even Laura, our resident supporter of "hike your own hike", had suggested that I would feel bad about skipping a section.  Waking up that morning near Laurel Falls along an endless supply of water, I was starting to get rehydrated and after a quick check on how I felt, I decided I was going to give it a go.  Seems the feeling was contagious, because Laura decided to go for it too, and together with Andy we tackled the mountain as a team of three -- the rest of the hikers had forged on ahead to give themselves plenty of time and were planning on reforming the team at the lake.

The climb was hard, no doubt about that, but soon enough I found myself at the top.  Andy and Laura had gotten ahead after I took a "bio-break" and I did not catch up with them for some time.  Without the synergy of the group it was a lot harder to take each step, but I forced myself onward and upward and fought my own demons to keep moving.  Giving up was not an option, and I rewarded myself with quick breaks, allowing just enough time to burn off the lactic acid in my legs and to allow my pulse to slow a few beats.

Making things harder was a few false "summits" but I could tell I was getting close and the steep parts were behind me.  A corner or two and I caught up, only about 10 minutes behind.  Not bad, not bad at all.

The downhill was fun ... 1800 feet back down to the elevation where we started.  But this time I leaped forward, using my stride and momentum to carry me down the hill fast enough to secure a 10 minute break to wait for them to catch up.  You take your victories when you can!  In all honesty it was not a competition, though, it's just a lot harder on my knees to put the brakes on my weight and with a clean, smooth path I was better off just moving forward and gliding downhill.

Andy had staged a watermelon near the edge of the park, and together with our uneaten and unmolested prize in hand we exited the park and returned to civilization.  Kind of.

Watauga Lake park was full of cars and families, running water, and flush toilets.  That was about it for amenities.  We secured a picnic table and took some time to relax.  Cathie and Cristina has waited for us for hours while Kenny had grown weary of the delays and had pushed on.  Remember they were still thinking that Laura and I were short-cutting and fully expected to see us there at the beach already.    Andy would have double-timed it, so now we were hours off schedule due to our late start and a fairly slow hike up, over and down Pond Mountain.

Over slices of watermelon, the debate ensued as to when to leave and how many more miles to clock.  The two that had been there for hours were ready to leave, while the second wave was ready for a break.  Ideas were floated to go past our scheduled camp, but that would require getting on the trail.  I wanted to wade and relax and get my second wind.  Five of us came up with what seemed like dozens of opinions and the conversation was getting a bit contentious when someone, Andy I think, had a stroke of genius.

He and Cathie would hitchhike to nearby Hampton, Tennessee and secure food and cold drinks.

To be continued ...