[at-l] back from Kincora

[agaudet at theworld.com (Arthur Gaudet)]

Hi all,
Had a nice Thanksgiving with Bob & Pat at Kincora this past week. Tuesday
was the regular trail maintenance trip so I spent the day with Tennessee
Eastman Hiking Club and Bob working on the relo just South of him, between
Dennis Cove and rt. 19E. We opened up a section they had cut this Fall,
painted the white blazes (I painted my first one!) and then blocked off what
is now the "Old AT" for that small stretch.

Wednesday was a loop hike for me, through the newly acquired Osborne
purchase, at Tenn. Rt. 91. The new AT (probably will be relocated next
Spring) will go through cattle fields for about half the 2.5 mile distance.
It will join the current AT about 1/4 mile S of a campsite listed in the
guidebook. The first shelter in this  same direction is Double Springs
Shelter. Many hikers might not remember this shelter if they did a long day
into Damascus. This shelter is less than 20 miles from the trail town.

Later in the evening I went to Miss Janet's to distribute 10 fleece hats to
the SoBo's lingering there. They appreciated the new warm hats. She had a
full house and everyone planned to have a zero for the turkey day.
MountainMan was there out for a section. He's a Damascus guy, former owner
of the cafe that had the great coffee. The place sold this Fall and the new
owner plans to continue the business with Mountain Man as an adviser.

The weather was definitely getting wintry. Most mornings at Kincora were 20
F or below. We saw flakes on Thursday and the heavy rains on Friday to to
ice and snow on Saturday. I left Friday for the long drive back to Boston.

Seiko was also in good form during the week, joining us for the big repast.
Only a few hikers remain north of Kincora, we think only 12 or so will hike
past this weekend and then only the solitary hikers after that. With only 3+
weeks to Christmas they need to do 100+ mile weeks to finish.

--RockDancer