Davis Mtn. Overnight 5-6 Dec.

My recent job promotion sparked a case of cabin fever that could not be ignored, so with very little work I convinced a friend and his two teenage sons to go with me at the last minute.  They had been listening to my stories for more than a year now and were ready to take their first trip.  We arrived at High Point trailhead about 3:15 pm and hiked in to Davis Mountain Shelter, arriving at 4:20pm, a good walk.  They had never even seen a trail shelter before today and immediately fell in love with the place while witnessing a perfect sunset.  The shelter was in good condition and I especially enjoyed the four small wooden stools, they worked great for sitting around the new metal fire ring.  There was an older picnic table but it has no sitting benches.  Anyway, the fire ring also has an built-in, adjustable height cooking grate similar to the kind you would find in a public park.  This worked out especially good for my friend Donny and his pan of Jiffy Pop!  We ate popcorn and enjoyed the remainder of the evening.  I've seen other "first" trips turn out ugly, but they did very well in spite of how cold it got.  Broke camp early and arrived back at the car at 7:50 am, Sunday.  It only took about 53 minutes to hike out, including the road walk on Hwy. 278.  They rated the trip a success and insisted on knowing when the next one would be.  I suggested hiking Pinhoti section 4 starting at Bull Gap sometime during their Christmas break.