[at-l] AT Hike Report: Day 14

[ARTCLOUTMN at aol.com (ARTCLOUTMN@xxxxxxx)]

Saturday 03/22/03  Cold Spring Shelter              12 miles

    Awesome night last night.  We watched the sunset then went to bed about 
7:30.  It was very windy and cold during the night.  I woke several times to 
very strong winds rattling the tent.  At 6:17 AM we got out of our sleeping bags 
and out of the tent to watch the sunrise.  Lots of color in the sky.  After a 
few minutes I checked the temperature, 35 degrees.  We took the fly off of 
the tent and proceeded to shake the water off and discovered it was ice.  Ap
parently it rained a little last night then froze.
    We headed down the bald to a picnic area that Pittsburgh told us about.  
There was an outhouse and water nearby.  We had our usual breakfast of 
oatmeal, hot chocolate and granola bar.  Then we hiked another mile or two to find a 
man dressed in Khakis, standing in a field looking official.  I greeted him 
and he offered us sodas.
     He walked down to his car and back with a large cooler.  I asked who he 
was.  He moved the lapel of his jacket to reveal a name tag that said ?Apple 
Official Trail Angel?  John sat in the wet grass against a tree.  Apple ran 
back to his car and returned with two chairs.  Apple planned to spend a week at 
this location to help thru hikers.  He proceeded to unload two tents, more 
chairs, some tables, several stoves, and a lot more food from his truck.  We 
offered to help but he claimed it would not count if we help him.  He did let us 
help him set up one of the tents.  His Joke of the day was ?What does vegan mean 
in Cherokee??  the answer is ?poor hunter?.  he he he.
    After drinking a can of soda and eating a entire sleeve of Reeses peanut 
butter cups we headed up the trail to the summit of Wayah Bald.  A large stone 
observation tower is at the top.  There are real bath rooms near the parking 
lot. And a picnic area.  We climbed the tower to catch the views.  We could 
see Siler Bald clearly and Albert Mountain.  A information map should us where 
to look for Clingman?s Dome but it was too hazy to pick out.  a family of 4 
arrived and asked us about our hike.  Bishop arrived and a hiker we never talked 
with that spent the night on Siler Bald with 3 of his friends.  
    We stayed awhile then headed on.  We reached camp by 4PM.  Several other 
hikers arrived.  Bishop and Ran Man.  2 girls and an guy from U. of Georgia 
are tenting nearby.  They started a fire near the shelter and ate their dinner 
by the fire.  We talked for a bit.  ?Patch? arrived with a girl who thru hiked 
last year.  She is trying to teach him some tricks to a successful thru hike 
before she goes back to college.  She is a very strong hiker.  Long legs.  Big 
steps.  Patch claims he spent a night with Regan at Plum Orchard Shelter.  
She was cold and wet but ok.  She has been doing short miles like we did because 
of the rain.  I still worry about her.  We often mention her and wonder how 
she is.  
    John seems to be having a tough time.  He does not complain but was very 
cold today.  It is 40 degrees in camp.  Cold tonight and clear sky.  Into bed 
at 8:48.