4/13 Friday the 13th

21.2 miles hiked today, 441.2 miles N
Double Springs Shelter

This entry will be somewhat short. I accidentally deleted my journal entry so I am doing this from memory.

I got a fairly early start this morning, somewhere around 8:30. My heel was a little painful but not enough to really hurt my pace. I did had to stop three times to rebandage it though.
The morning was cool so I had to keep moving to warm up but otherwise it was perfect hiking weather, high 40s to low 50s. The trail hit the earthen dam that created Watuaga Lake fairly early and after that there was a easy climb. Then back to the rolling ridge line around 4000' with no major rises or drops for the rest of the day. Bowser and I played catch most of the day. At Vandeventer I took a small lunch break and then stretched out in the sun on the rocky ridge line behind the shelter. From there I could survey the sparsely populated green flat below and soak in the sun for warmth.
After that I was heading north along the ridge line when suddenly I heard a pack of dogs barking up a storm just behind me coming up the other side of the ridge. The only thing I could think of was it a pack of wolves or foxes and there only was one of me. I turned and faced the sound and prepared to defend myself if needed. Then I saw the packof ...... adorable golden lab puppies maybe 5 months old. I went in for a close look and there appeared to be 7 golden lab pups and one black lab that was maybe 7 months old. They all saw me and started defending their territory, a random patch of woods and trail. The barked their heads off and ran back and forth trying to scare me off. They all looked very well fed, no scars or injuries, and had no collars. I watched them for a few minutes before heading north again as they descended the steep slope cutting through the trees. I assume they broke free or someone abandoned them in the woods.
After that experience I had a fairly mundane hike. At a rest stop Bowser caught up with me and we rolled into shelter together around 7 after having a long conversation about politics.
Camp was uneventful until Dr. Johnson arrived.
He was retired professor of geology who was coming back to try his second thru hike of the AT. He was a fun guy and we spent many hours talking. Around 9 it started raining but we were warm and safe in the shelter.