Trip Report! Re: [at-l] New Years Eve Celebration on Springer '03

[sloetoe at yahoo.com (Sloetoe)]

--- Gary Roberts <GRoberts@npr.org> wrote:
> Haven't heard much info on who, what, where and how of the
> gathering atop of Springer for New Year's Eve.  What's up??
###
sloetoe (fontana)
spur (unicoi?)
ready (MMMmmm, cooooookiesssss)
heald (gooch) & dog
stumpknocker (ME->VA-ish, then drove, via Church's Fried
Chicken)
liteshoe (GA->ME)
Goosebump & Rainbow Slick (ME->VA-ish, then drove, via Bailey's)
Dr. Doolittle & dog (ME->HotSprings; Fontana)
Underpants & dog (ME->HotSprings; Fontana)
Swallowtail (drove)
Coosa (or rumors of her...)
Risk (Dr. of hammockology)
EdSpeers (High Priest of hammockology)
POG  (victim of hammockology)
Lauren (sp?) aspiring 2004, after basketball, a marathon, and 50
miles worth of the Umstead 100 in early April....
and some others who'd heard the call....... including, oddly
enough, six dogs on the summit.

Weather: Wow. Mite breezy in early evening; great fire with an
oak foundation HIKED up by stumpknocker and liteshoe; fireworks
by heald; in shirt sleeves on January 1 with fine bright
sunshine morning....... 

Company: Grand.

Trip Report:
### Long story short: 163 miles in 10 days, with 7
hours of daylight -- some days 12s, some days 20s....... I
caught up to some throughhikers, and we played leapfrog for the
last 4-5 days -- and of course it turns out we all knew each
other through one or two "degrees of separation" once we all met
up on Springer.

Hike Weather:
### Unreasonably good. 3+ days of sneaux, melting sneaux, or
rain, then CLEAR dry 30-50*F, day after day after day after day.
I was watching the salt stains spread across the pack straps...
Yow. And shirt sleeves New Years' Day on Springer's summit.

12/21 Sun 1:30pm... 7 miles to Cable Gap Shelter. I am starting
off a day and a half late (and mostly uphill!), but have my car
at NOC with a food drop inside, and another being mailed by NOC
to Neels Gap on Monday. I considered just dropping the
Fontana->Wesser section, but then thought I'd rather fail at the
whole distance and have to hitch to reach Springer than "waste"
a hike opportunity and be bored on trail with too little miles
to do. So off to Fontana I go. Sneaux is pretty light and
fluffy, above my knees in driffs. Fontana looks neat, sinking
away and down as I climb away for the first few miles...

12/22 Cable Gap to Wesser/NOC 22 miles. I awaken to check the
impact of the vapor barrier liner that I'd just made from
numerous silnylon scraps, to see if it was going to keep my down
bag/bivy combo safe below freezing. (The Integral Designs
"ToddTex" bivy does not wish to pass water below freezing, but
rather to have it condense on the inside of the bivy -- not good
for a down bag used over multiple [accumulating] nights.) The
down bag was wetted through precisely at the seams of the bivy
-- made from scraps with a dozen+ pieces and *full* of seams.
Obviously, I was going to have to dump the VBL and would have to
watch my reliance on the bivy in the (expected!) 0-30* nighttime
temps. 
Twenty miles today, including Cheoah Bald at sunset and an 8
mile descent skiing wet sneaux in the dark. The uphill and flat
miles came plenty hard today, with the sneaux being very
slippery underfoot. I could make an avalanche any time by
sweeping my foot sideways on the trail and throwing a ball over
the steep-edged trail. The sneaux would ball immediately and the
resulting mass would continue down the hill collecting weight as
it went. In my mind I held the village of Stechoah, a straight
shot down, hostage many times, to vast amounts of money. But in
my mind's eye, Kiefer Sutherland kept showing up to foil my
plans (and ruin my hike). It was kewl, though.
Cheoah was beauuuuuuutious. Great pictures back north (AT-wise)
through the Smokys, picking out the entire route to Cammerer
easily. Got into town at 9:30-ish, still hunting for the
throughhikers that'd broken trail for me. I was playing
Sherlocke Holmes with their tracks: He was tall, she less so;
tall,heavy dog, rust brown, female, that periodically morphs
into a dog half the size. (I considered the dog wearing little
booties for a while, but the weight thing was not answered --
the smaller dog was so much lighter as well. I never actually
considered that there would be two dogs -- they never seemed to
appear simultaneously in the footie prints.) They were obviously
experienced hikers and dog/s, too....
But I missed 'em in town --looked all over for them in case they
were stealthing in the area, but to no avail. So I hopped in my
car and sped off to Bryson City to catch some food, and managed
to hit everything just after they closed, including an AYCE
Chinese place at 10:30pm. BUMMERRRRRR.

12/23 12 miles to Cold Spring Shelter, starting at noon. Woke
the next morning in the car (fold down seats with my feet in the
trunk. DON'T do this at home, folks), and beat it back into
Bryson City, eating a massive fest at a "family-style" main
street local eatery. $8.00 for a boatload of vittles. Highly
recommended. Beat it back to NOC, picked up a pair of socks and
fresh batteries, and cut 1/3 of the food from my 7 day drop to
Neels, and headed out. (Again uphill! Sheesh!) Including a nice
blueblaze on old AT, made 12 miles today, the last of it in the
rain. (Need to take it easy tomorrow.) Arrived at the shelter at
8:00pm, and wrote "Arrived at 8:00pm in the rain. Heard from
some people that this was a nasty little shelter. Don't think
those people ever arrived here at 8:00pm in the rain." That
entry cracked me up for days...

12/24 12 miles to Siler Bald Shelter, including another little
ghostblaze in the sneaux.(Love those detailed maps!) Minor mice
problem in the shelter, seemingly taken care of by mashing the
first one with my palm and tossing his flattened widdle carcass
off the sleeping platform. By morning, the furry little
bookmark-remains were gone. Hmmmmm. Waste not, want not.

12/25 12 miles to Big Spring Shelter. Left the shelter to the
sounds of a young bear nearby (<200yards?) very nasally calling
out his/her annoyance about something.... Vaguely considered the
headlines about getting mauled for Christmas.....
Going through Wallace Gap, I saw a faded but still tacky yellow
sign high up in the trees. Getting closer to it, it read
"Showers! Chili! Rainbow Springs Campground!" or some such. I
looked around at where the AT might go and sure enough, it would
only be visible from the trail (not the road), and only when the
leaves were off the trees. (But eventually, it will come down
with someone's protest that it interrupts the long green tunnel
effect they so effectively desire....) Felt pretty good, but was
pushing dark, and I didn't want to descend the nasty rock
scramble of Albert Mtn in the dark with melting ice.....

12/26 19 miles to Muskrat Creek. Big Spring Shelter has no
privy, despite what the signage all says. I mean, *I* looked all
around for it. No signs, no defined path, just a mishmash of
little routes through the Mirkwood rhododendron looking for
Bilbo's spiders to come screeching out. In the dark. Back in the
leanto, where it announces the privy, I took out my felt-tip and
defaced the sign by writing a kindly "Where?" next to the word
"privy". Subtle clues may do it....
Albert Mtn fire tower was GLORIOUS. Best views yet, of the MANY
great ones so far. Sat there slack-jawed for half an hour easy.
Clicked pictures, mini-cammed even. Got to go back there. Then I
steeled myself for the descent of Albert. Should be OK, since it
was still early in the morning and ice would be good, and
lighting was right on it. Turns out it was NOTHING like the
nasty little blight I remember still (and clearly) from '79,
hanging on a near/cliff edge with exposed and sharp rocks. More
like regular ol' New England trail... I wonder if the trail's
been rerouted, but the map doesn't suggest any history... or
even potential for alternatives like I remember. (Coulda done
this last night, dang it!)
Walking along the next section, with big rock faces in the sun,
I stopped repeatedly to listen as the warming sun *blasted* big
thick sheets of ice from the face of the mountain, above me and
below, crack, crashshshhshshshshs, boom,crasshshshshshs as the
mountain sloughed off the wet sheild. Kewlllll. And loud.
The rest of the day was a quiet little cruise to Standing Indian
and past, killing a couple of ghosts in Deep Gap (I hope), and
heading off to Muskrat Creek. I pull in not-too-late, with still
usable daylight even, and (hold it a second... how can the
daylight be usable when I left Deep Gap at/after sunset? two
hours just disappear like that? Hmmmm.)
Anywho, I'm calculating and calculating, and I'm going to make
it to Springer without a hitch -- literal or figurative....
Feels good to hit on that one...

12/27 15 miles to Deep Gap Shelter -- after strolling through
the tough 3-4 miles that separates Bly from Muskrat Creek
shelter, I stop, feeling all strange and relaxed and jubulent
and excited, feeling a hint of what SOBO throughhikers feel on
entering this, the last state. One thought was clear: that I'd
always considered Georgia a downer of a state to finish with,
and always have thought it must be a big letdown. Now I know
better.
Hit Dick's Creek Gap for a late/hot lunch and final fuel-prep
for the end of the day, and up walks Corsican (GA->ME'99), who
was letting Dr. Doolittle and Underpants out after a bit of
magic. I rushed through my meal while they played with their
packs and we all traded life stories, and then we proceeded to
Deep Gap. (I then confirmed all my Holmesian deductions about
the hikers whose prints I'd been following for a week, including
learning that there were in fact TWO doggies, not one
magical-morphing pooch.) The shelter was helter-skelter with
people when I arrived, and after enjoying the NICE toasty fire,
I retired to my bivy nestled in the oak leaves, to sleep
mouseless and sound. Except for the freakin' dogs barking every
37 minutes.

12/28 22 miles to Low Gap. WHAT a wonderful day. Had some neat
personal revelations on top of Tray (that I'm still trying to
get my hands all the way around) but, well, I was smilin' broad
alllll day long, as it seems was everyone else I met. Including
a guy just camped out right at the Cheese Factory site, reading
Dave Brill's "As Far As The Eye Can See" and hankering for a
hike. *What* a nice guy -- he and I had such a psyche-you-up
conversation, I was inspired to trailname him. I said "I've
never done this before. I don't go around doing this generally;
but I just feel you need to be know as "Bustin'". I hope he
reads this.
Pulled into Low Gap leanto at ~9:30, to meet three shocked Eagle
scouts and their "leader" (Yes, "leader" -- one was a college
sophomore in finance, yet. I'm ok with it...) 

12/29 11 miles to Neels Gap
As I'm leaving Low Gap shelter, I check the register and find a
note from Spur that he's on trail. Yipes! If I hurry, I might
catch him before he leaves Neels.
Wowwwww, the last 5 or so miles into Neels just seemed so
prototypical "Georgia AT"... Very pretty trail today. I'm having
a good time.
Roll into Neels wayyyyy psyched to be alive. Say "Hi" to Spur,
but I'm really distracted by the need to get "business" done --
10 days since my last shower (I think), food drop, possible chow
in town, etc... So I head upstairs and check out the Walaysi-Yi
Inn, and find it unchanged from when Jeff&Dorothy(GA->ME'79)
were proprietors. WHAT a wonderful cultural touchstone.
As restrained as I try to be, I can't help but start to "sell"
stuff. A couple of books, two videos, and those *wonderful*
powerstretchfleecey gloves -- I could make a livin' doing
this... but I need to get my hike housekeeping done.
No food drop from NOC -- whether they sent it or not (I'll
figure this out soon), it never arrived. The two day's of food
is not an issue, but the liter of ButterSchnops is. Dry county.
DANGGGGGG.
Planning on laundry after food, I head out for vittles with
Heald and Dr. Doolittle. (AYCE at the Cookie Jar in
Blairsville), and down six plates-full. Not Chinese, but it'll
do in a pinch. Ham and chicken and beef stew and rice and corn
and beans and black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes and corn bread
and polenta and cobbler and fried apples and ice cream. Times
six. MMmmmmmmmm.
With rounded tummies and scrubbed backsides and fresh socks, I
slept well that night.

12/30 15 miles to Gooch Gap. Who names anything "Gooch" anyway?
And yet, there it is, in 4-5 different placenames on the Georgia
Blue Ridge....
We wake to wicked cold, strong winds, dark skies. Poop. But by
10:00am, the skies have broken up, and after much bundling from
gear that hadn't seen much use yet, Dr. Doolittle and I
proceeded up Blood Mtn. From the top, we could see the Atlanta
skyline, a good 60-70 miles as the crow gets blown. Man! That's
not a common view! It really strikes me (as it has since
approaching Neels Gap) just how sharp the border is between the
AT ridge and the Piedmont fading away to the east and south.
Wow. I've hiked this three times now and this is the first time
I've noticed just how ... "narrow" this little ridge is here...
As I'm crossing Gooch Gap looking for the leanto, Heald pulls up
in Winton's van, ready to show me the right way. Great timing,
though I would have been happy bivying in the woods. We hike the
hidden mile to the shelter on new trail that I will rehike in
the morning, taking the wrong turn out of the leanto. Dang!

12/31 16 (18!) miles to Springer. 
I wake and snap a shot of Doolittle on her last morning as a
throughhiker, and take off knowing ("ha!") that she'd pass me
soon. An hour later, I return as she's leaving the leanto with
Heald. Ah, well. We'll still leapfrog this day, too.
Interesting day, but what I remember is the (famous!?) bad
blazing near Three Forks, and then the beauuuuuuuutious
rhododendron, etc. the last 4 miles to Springer. Just don't
remember this, going NOBO, but coming south, it all just seems
like wrapping on a special gift.

And I come tooling into the FS42 parking lot, and there's people
people people, and some I know, and some I'm meeting, and I'm
having a good time, but even after just 10 days, I'm
"crowd-averse" and hang back. Heavy emotions -- or better,
*powerful* but flighty emotions -- are whirling around, and I
spend the next 12 hours (and the next 7 days) trying to sort
them out,
but I did write this to a friend:
> when reality hits you in the face in January.
### "Reality"??? This ain't no reality. 8 miles down hill
through knee deep wwwwet snow -- in the dark -- *that's*
reality. The best I can come with here is "civilian". Reality is
a clear winter day cold enough that when you stick your hand in
a spring, the water feels warm.

Good hike. Hard to return to Babylon.
Sloetoe


=====
Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.

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