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Up early - 6:30 - 1st to wake to rain & heavy fog.
Windy and cold, too. Lucky for me, only 3.5 miles downhill to Dicks
Creek Rd (66.8). 3 miles from there the Blueberry Patch Hostel...
Shower, food, & bed... Ahh...
I was one of the last to leave the shelter but I caught everyone
@ Dicks Creek. They were trying to get a hitch when I came out
of the woods. I wasn't there ten minutes when Rooney Tunes and
trail
angel Gary Eberly came rolling up. Gary was giving Tunes a ride
back to the trail; he stayed at the Blueberry patch last night.
Gary &
I rode back to the
hostel where I met hostel owner Gary & Lenny Poteat.
Gary showed me around. It wasn't long before I was out of wet clothes
and into the shower. Lenny so kindly washed & dried my clothes and
minutes after being out of the shower, she came with my clean clothes.
It was awesome. Gary E. & I decided to go into town to eat at Daniel's
Steakhouse (AYCE bar) where I see Travis, Kip, Clayton & Toby. They
were one day ahead of me. They stayed in Hiawasee @ a Holiday Inn
and were getting back on the trail after lunch. Oh, but first, Toby
is supposed to have a package at B.B.P.H. Unfortunately, the package
never comes & Toby stayed the night @ the hostel. Travis, Kip & Clayton
pushed on.
Later, Toby and I decide to hitch into town for dinner. The first
ride was pimp! A 1973 Mercedes Benz w/ V-8 and 93,000 original
miles owned by John the painter. He gave us a ride to the edge
of town.
Next, only minutes later, a jacked-up Jeep Cherokee passes us
but then turns around and picks us up. The driver, 18 yr old
Matt,
is a student at the nearby college, Young Harris. Matt offers
to show
us a local lookout spot not too far away. When we got to the
top of this mtn. (not sure the name), we can see all of Hiawasee
and
surrounding N. GA mtns. It was beautiful.
Matt dropped us @ the Hiawasee Inn where most of the other hikers
are staying. Toby and I eat Subway while hanging out w/ the
other hikers. About 9:30 PM Heat Mieser (of '91) from Detroit,
MI,
gives us a ride back to the hostel. Toby and I crashed hard.
Zero day @ Blueberry Patch. Up @ 8:30 for breakfast
- O.J., grits, w/ homemade organic blueberry syrup swirled in, &
hot peppermint tea afterward. Gary & Lenny are great, God-loving
people that are so kind & generous.
Toby recieved his package @ 10 AM. We called Heat
Mieser for a ride to town. I needed to mail stuff home & go by the grocery store. Heat
Meiser came with his wife. They were doing trail magic while on a
vacation. We all 4 went to mexican. We visited and ate, and when
the server brought the check, they paid for Toby & I. I cound't believe
it! People are great! the only thing they asked in return was to
pass the magic (give back) someday! Wow! they dropped me off @ the
post office & Toby continued on after lunch. I completed my errands
& walked back to the Hiawasee Inn. There, a few other hikers took
zero days as well. - Thumper, Jeff, Tom, Gypsy Ron, John & others.
@ 6 PM we all were shuttled to Daniel's Steakhouse again. In all,
about 12 of us hikers killed Daniel's cold & hot bar. It was good
times!! The owner of the Hiawasse Inn shuttled me back to the hostel.
I watched the Bush press conference w/ Gary & Lenny in their living
room. Tomorrow I'm back on the trail - rested and dry, I am ready.
Woke up to snow @ Blueberry. A bad storm moved
in, temperature dropped, rain late turned into flurries. There was
at least 3-4 inches in some areas. It was not anticipated whatsoever.
I
got around while Gary, the hostel owner, drove to Dicks Creek to
check for hikers who wanted to come out of the
weather; he returned without anyone. Sometime after 11:00 or so,
Gary informed me that he recieved a call on the telephone and a
hiker was at Blue Mtn. Shelter w/ hypothermia. He found a map
that he was
looking for and left to help. Meanwhile, I made calls, organized & packed
my gear, reviewed my food rations and ate lunch.
A few hours later the sherrifs office dropped off the hypothermic
hiker. Now, I'm not sure if I mentioned the one-handed hiker,
but he has made himself known as on the trail as Vagrant. I
think he
just doesn't have any other place to go; it was sad. All he
was carrying thru this storm was a large plastic sheet, a blanket,
and a small
daypack-size backpack - which is hardly enough for weather
conditions
in the mountains.
I finally got on the trail; Gary gave me a shuttle to Dicks
Creek. So, off I went up the mountain (about 2 PM) in shorts
and a T-shirt
hiking through snow to Muskrat Shelter - 11.4 miles away
and mostly up. The sun was out in full and it was windy, so the
walk, though
very steep, was pleasant. I made it to Muskrat Creek Shelter
in 5 hours.
I arrived to a small village of tents and people huddled
over the fire next to the shelter - Tom, Jeff, Toby, Lumpy,
Red
Beard, Two
Dogs, a group of 4 elder women hikers, Dutch, Bearbait,
Cliff Dancer and more. I didn't have much of a selection of areas
to make camp,
but I found a small spot near a tree with a good branch
to
hang my food. It was cold so I set camp quickly & I began making dinner before
the evening light faded. It was a tough day and nother tomorrow.
Dawg
I almost forgot to mention the best part of the
day - I made
it to North Carolina - 75.4 miles. I completed 1 state
of the A.T.!! Only 13 more to go...
Thursday was my longest day - 16.2 miles. Yeah!!
And because it was such a long day, I didn't write after dinner,
and went to bed instead. I did make an attempt though, it just faild
as my eyes and head knodded. I was tired and rightfully so! I climbed
the highest mountain thus far - Standing Indian (5498').
First, I camp up onto the Chunky
Gal Trail and thought about seeing
where it lead, but decided against it and pushed on. I met Two
Dogs while taking lunch @ Deep Gap and then climbed 1158 feet in less
than 1 mile to Standing Indian. Set Camp at Betty Creek Gap with
Goosebump, Tom, Jeff, Libby & Burnie. It was a short dinner for us
all. We ate and went to bed about 8:30-9 o'clock. I slept well, but
it was cold at 4:30 AM when I woke up. I was packed and on the trail
in 45 minutes. My goal was to make it to Albert Mtn firetower (97.1
mi) for the sunrise.
Albert Mtn. was 2.5 miles away. It meant three steep climbs - Mooney
Gap (4480'), Big Butt Mtn (4600') and albert Mtn (5220'). I used
my headlamp to see but it wasn't long and hte light was sufficient
for navigating the trail. I arrived on Albert just in time to climb
the fire tower, set my camera, and eagerly wait. The
sunrise was
awesome! A crisp, clear morning yeilded wonderful colors in the
sky! Big sun!
After I took my pictures, I rested by eating and taking a nap.
I was awakened by Goosebump about 10:00 AM, followed by Tom & Jeff.
We spoke about the great view & the sunrise while we ate breakfast
(again.) Tom,
Jeff & I decided to get underway to Wallace Gap (103.7
mi) to make it to Franklin. In my haste I left my hat - a hat I made
a pact w/ - "It was going all the way!" Problem was I left my hat
back at Albert Mtn. I didn't realize I was missing it until Glassmine
Gap (101.5) where Goosebump informed
me she had found it and left it @ the last shelter, Big Spring
(97.7 mi). Goosebump was upset
that she didn't continue to carry it, but she had no idea it
belonged to me. I could have kicked myself! So, I sucked it up!
- I stashed
my pack well off the trail and returned 3.8 miles south to get
my hat. I made poor time on the uphill, so I ran the way back
to Glassmine
Gap. I passed the same people going south and then again going
north.
I ended up going 7.6 miles out of my way for my hat! In all for
the day, I completed 15.8 miles. I learned a lesson today -
instead of
double checking, now I have to triple check myself.
On a happier note, I crossed the 100 mile marker - WooHoo!
This 100 miles is significant: 1st, this is the most miles
I have
ever completed
in a row & second, I've nearly completed 5% of the trail! This is
great in and of itself! At this point, many have tried, most have
failed.
At Wallace Gap, Thumper was waiting for a shuttle to Franklin.
Luckily, we hikers had the fortune of meeting Ronnie Haven
of Haven
Motel.
He gave hikers shuttles for free into Franklin. He was a
good salesman, too! He had about 30 stinky, hot hikers lodged
up
for the night.
Cost was $35 per room & it didn't matter how many people bunked in
one room. When I arrived at the hotel, Travis, Kip, Clayton (Pacemaker)
and others had a room already, so Thumper, Travis, Clayton & I shared
a room. We ordered pizza for dinner and socialized on the porch with
other hikers. We talk gear & hiking stories, but that gets old after
a while, and we move onto other topics. It was a good time! Tired,
we all crashed at 11 PM.
We all tried to sleep in, but our internal clocks
are already set to the rise of the sun. I woke up and ate 6 bananas
& grapes I picked up last night from the grocery store. Two gentlemen
section hiking from Ohio finished their hiker early and came into
Franklin to stay the night. They were out for a drive when they saw
a bunch of hikers and stopped to ask if any of us needed a ride.
So, I took them up on their offer and they took me to Bi-Lo. Kevin
& Toe - thanks, guys!
I decided to take the late shuttle back to the trail, as did Burnie,
Libby, Caveman, "On It", Thumper, Red Beard, Smokes, & Doc.
While waiting for the shuttle to leave, "On It" tries to
pack 8 lbs.
of whiskey; it doesn't work so good because his pack
is full. So,
he carried them 6.7 miles to Siler Bald Shelter. This dude is crazy
- spends the wingter fishing in Alaska! He is odd, but nice to speak
to.
I, too, stayed at Siler Bald Shelter. We left late in the afternoon,
but it did not effect us much, since it was a short day. Siler
Bald Shelter was a nice camping spot; it had a large open grassy
area.
Once camp was set I made a proposition to watch the sunset on Siler
Bald, a .5 mile climb up a steep, rocking logging road. Kip & girlfriend,
Morgan, - Clayton,
Thumper & myself made the walk to the top of Siler
Bald. It was tough and winded us all - and we didn't even have
our packs! We arrived @ the summit just as the sun
was setting! It was
an incredible view - 300 degrees across the horizon! I can't describe
it. We sat for 2 hours and watched the stars slip into view. We
identified Orion's belt & the Big Dipper. Stars out everywhere. We left
the skyscape to find a raging fire and a few tipsy hikers.
I slept under the stars again on my groundcloth. It was a great
day! - Dawg
Every 2 hours I cracked my eyes and watched the
Dipper slowly move across the sky - as long as I didn't see clouds,
I went back to sleep.Since I slept out, I had a few
insects in my
stuff. The sunrise was awesome through the leaveless trees. Sometimes,
we'll cook breakfast and other times we'll eat bars & snacks as breakfast
on the go. But, since the morning was glorious, I decided on a rice
meal & hot tea. "On It" also decided on a hot meal. After a night
of whiskey - 3/4 of the bottle was gone. When I was going to wash
up, Thumper spotted a small garter snake; I tried to catch it, but
he was just too fast for me. Darn!
I was the last to leave the shelter. I read through the trail/shelter
register and signed it: "Must check out sunset on Siler Bald!"
I wasn't the last to make it to Wayah Bald (116.9) stone
observation tower. We
all took a looong lunch and enjoyed the shade, breeze & views. Kip even began
to play the guitar -
it was awesome!
Randomly, we all moved on down the trail. For the night, Thumper,
Two Dogs, &
I camped on a ridge above Cold Spring Shelter. We made a fire and chatted while
making dinner. I just can't explain, but it, too, was the greatest day - its
like having the best day of your life everyday! Again, on such a clear night,
who would want to sleep in a tent? I didn't. ~Dawg
P.S. 12.1 miles completed today!
Continue to week 3
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