With the Old Long Run group finished and time running a bit long, we decided to head for some mud rather than our earlier plan to run Kephart in the afternoon. Scuba-Steve (aka Howser) knew a spot along the banks of Dry River which had contained mud only two weeks before. The group decided to head over that way.

We didn't see, nor had we heard from, the Kephart group so Keith/Len and Tim/Patti decided to go check on them while the others went for the mud. We started along the Kephart trail and eventually met up with Sam on his way out, followed soon by Paul in the crewcab. We traded stories enough to know that they were all okay and just hadn't come out yet.

When Sam finally reached pavement, we sent after Chad who had recently installed his on board welder to ask for a demonstration. The prospect of the onboard welder was fascinating to most of us and seemed to keep our attention. As a result, neither group switched trails but instead chose to watch the action. As it turned out, most of the mud had dried up from the area so after a little playing, the group from Baltimore headed for home.

The welder wasn't functioning quite as hoped (some issues that Chad has since worked out) so the decision was made to drive Sam home (only 35-40 miles away) to weld the broken piece in his own shop or secure a replacement. So Sam and Chad head for Sam's place and the rest of us head back over to the campground to eat!

And the food was wonderful and plentiful! The company was also. There was much ribbing around the fires as well as tall tales and outright lies. The rain even missed most of us. As we finished dinner, Jamus announced that he had made plans to meet Sam and Chad back at Sam's truck around 8:30. We gathered a few hardy (or is that foolhardy?) souls for a night run, hoping to get above the clouds and see the night view from Flagpole Knob.

Keith and Len; Tim and Patti with Alan and Becky in the backseat; Jamus and Chad; and Kevin left from the campground to rendevous with Sam and Chad (Lostone) at the truck. As we arrived, they were just finishing up the repairs.

As we pulled out, the group got separated by some additional traffic with the two solid axle guys getting further back. Miscommunication led them to turn off on Peake Moutain Road. After finding a place to pull over, Chad (we know why they call him Lostone) went back to get them. He took a wrong turn in the process but eventually gathered them up and we regrouped. Next was my turn to get "lost" as I missed the next turn.

Finally, as we start working our way up the mountain on what are pretty much 2wd roads, Chad announces that he is low on gas. Just a few miles later, Jamus announces that he is losing power. Not much to do about low on gas other than hitting Sam's reserve tank. Jamus power loss is quickly traced to a spark plug boot. (It's easy to see an arc in the dark :))