[at-l] Hike last weekend

[SLIM aka Nancy" <bogey1@xxxxxxxx (SLIM aka Nancy)]

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Hey Listers, Bogey and I went on a weekender from Boiling Springs south to =
Caledonia.  The first night was cold and we stayed at the Kennedy shelter a=
ll alone.  Darn those lofts, they're are too high for either of us to get o=
n and off during the night.  Where's the ladder?  Then on Saturday we walke=
d to Frye or the old Tagg Run shelter to be greeted by six men and two dogs=
 already homesteading in the shelter.  I knew something was out of kilter w=
hen, approaching, I noticed the HUGE blue tarp staked out and hanging like =
a patio roof across the whole shelter front.  Then the table was gone,  Oh =
contraire! It was IN the shelter with the dogs and 'girlie men'!  Ain't no =
body gonna use OUR shelter!  Ain't nobody gonna use OUR table neither!   My=
 big mouth led me right up front and center to them and asked where did you=
 come from? Oh just up from the road down there.  Where'd you come from?, h=
e asked.  Eight and a half miles away said me.  He said he felt ashamed to =
say he only walked in a quarter mile. Then I asked 'when' they came in and =
he said, Yesterday (Friday) and we were gonna go on but it rained Friday.  =
Funny, I said, it didn't rain at Kennedy shelter where we were yesterday.  =
If you call a drizzle rain and since 'girlie men' can't tell the difference=
 between a trail shelter and a campground I decided, without a cell phone t=
o report them to the rangers, I might as well go on before I got shot.  Any=
how we, manly man & manly woman, camped under a tree and listened to the re=
dnecks hoot and holler and had to chase their dogs away from the tent. It r=
ained, that's different by far than sprinkles, off and on all night long, b=
ut we stayed dry and warm.  By 6:30am the rain turned to snow and we still =
had a long way to go.  We walked past the shelter where the weenies slept a=
nd they were still bunked in and abviously not planning to leave any time s=
oon.  I asked if they were warm.  Some of them grumbled 'Yea' but I knew be=
tter.  They were the weekend warriors who bring sub-standard (one season) g=
ear.  Cool!...or should I say COLD!  Frosty's revenge!  Sunday would be the=
ir third day in the Frye shelter.  Where was Shakey Leggs or Bill or Jim wh=
en we need them?  Sunday we packed up in the rain/snow, everything getting =
wetter before it was packed, especially the tent and off we went without ea=
ting breakfast.  We were prepared for  snow but it was much more than expec=
ted.  Four inches on top of the Mountain, trees and shrubs bending down fro=
m the weigh of it, obscuring the path, bushwhacking / snow whacking, detour=
ing winter blowdowns to stay on the trail.  It was beautiful, nearly a whit=
eout.  Heading south toward Pine Grove we got to the rocky area where the t=
rail just disappeared and the blazes were whited out by the snow clinging t=
o the trees.  Bogey went uphill to check if the trail went that way, I stay=
ed down looking for a blaze.  The one blaze we saw was facing up the hill w=
here Bogey went but then they stopped.  I was wiping snow off the tree trun=
ks to find blazes but to no avail.  Bogey decided to add some fertilizer to=
 the hill while I scrounged around for a single white blaze.  Finally I fou=
nd one when I looked back to a tree.  Off we went again in our NB 804 sneak=
ers in 4" of snow.  We were warm the whole time but had it been windy we wo=
uld have had to put on more clothing. The raincoats were indispensible that=
 day.  When we got to the car at 11:30 pants, feet, gloves were soaked and =
we changed into street clothing.  We had planned to leap frog the cars to C=
aledonia and continue hiking but thinking of wearing icy, wet hiking gear &=
 clothing the next day Bogey decided to head for the nearest pizza joint an=
d eat his fill.  Boiling Springs here we come. We drove by the trail juntio=
n at Pine Grove Rd where it goes to Tagg Run shelter and at noon time there=
 were still no footprints in the snow from the shelter rats.  I wonder how =
long they stayed?  Maybe for the week?  If ya'll don't like that I complain=
 about non-hikers homesteading in the shelters then don't read my posts cau=
se I'm always gonna complain about xXxX's who ruin a perfectly wonderful wi=
lderness setting with their noisy, inconsiderate squatter, wussy ("I own th=
e shelter") behavior.  Real men do the real thing. So do real women. Take a=
 hike!!

Any day's a good day to hike,
SLIM aka Nancy

"I do not ask to walk smooth paths, nor bear an easy load,
I pray for strength and fortitude to climb the rock-strewn road.
Give me such courage, I can scale the heartiest peaks alone,
And transform every stumbling block into a stepping stone."
---unknown
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