[at-l] AT Hike Report: Day 18

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

Wednesday 03/26/03  Cable Gap Shelter           12 miles

    Gray day today, but only sprinkles.  High temperature about 55 degrees.  
Good day for hiking.  
    We were up by 7:30 and hiked to Stecoah Gap before 10:00 am.  There is a 
road crossing in the gap and a little picnic area where the trail comes out to 
the road.  By the trail is a bag of goodies from Butch Cassidy.  It contains 
some artificial milk and cans of dog food.  We don?t need any of this stuff.  
There is one brand new hiking boot sitting on the picnic table.  John and I 
stopped here for a break and some food.
    Out of the woods barreled Nickel and Dime.  They left Sassafras Gap 
Shelter this morning and hope to reach Fontana Dam today.  Right behind them came 
Cheddar.  They drank the artificial milk quickly then headed across the road 
and back onto the trail.
    A local gent drove up in his car.  He got out with a camera in his had 
and came over to the table. He asked if we had seen any wild flowers.  He 
usually gets good pictures in early April but the weather has been so warm that he 
is afraid he will miss the spring bloom if he does not check often.  He 
apparently checks several places two or three times a week.  We told him we saw signs 
of flowers about to bloom as we came down into the gap.  And a few flowers 
were in bloom.  One flower we spotted that has not opened yet is the Trillium.  
The leaves have opened and there are flower stocks shooting up but no open 
buds yet.  Any day now.
    We headed off toward Brown Fork Shelter for some lunch.  A young man from 
Georgia named RedEye passed us on the trail.  We met him again at the shelter 
where we had a nice lunch and some conversation. (11:00-12:00)
    Continuing to make good time we experienced some light sprinkles but not 
enough to put on our rain gear.  A fast moving hiker wearing red and white 
striped shorts passed us on this section of trail.  He left NOC this morning and 
was planning on making it to Fontana today.  That is 28 miles.  He had an 
unusual gate.  He walked very efficiently almost like a race walker.  He had only 
7 more miles to go and it was about 2:30 PM.  He should make it.  But we have 
no intentions of going that fast.  We are enjoying our hike and don?t want to 
spoil it by arriving early or causing injury.
    We met up with Red Eye at Cable Gap Shelter.  There was a young man from 
Knoxville High School at the shelter.  Josh was on his spring break and enjoys 
hiking alone.  We told jokes, compared gear, and ate dinner.