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[at-l] Solophile's Journal Entries [Mar21-29]

Sat down last night and typed these all up.  I think I'm 
well on my way to carpal tunnel...  

They should be on the web-site by lunch today...

Enjoy!

- Andy

----

March 21 - Day 11
12.9 mi to Big Spring Shelter - 97.7 cum

Today was off to a good start.  I was the first one to break camp and headed
downhill off Standing Indian at a good pace.  Within an hour and a half I
came upon Wahoo and Cowboy starting to break camp at Beech Gap.  They
mentioned that Briar had camped nearby and had gotten off to an early start.
Evidently Briar had twisted his knee the day before and was hobbling pretty
badly.

I set off again and encountered several blowdowns on the trail between Beech
Gap and the Carter Gap Shelter.  None of them were impassable, but they sure
did make you scramble.  I stopped for a brief lunch at the shelter and was 
just about to head out as Puget Pounder and Never Ready pulled in.  We spoke
briefly and then I headed on out.

Roughly an hour later I spotted a big hulking figure on the trail up ahead
tottering from side to side.  It was Briar, and it looked like he was
hurting pretty badly.  I called out to him and hurried to his side.  His
right knee was wrapped in an ace bandage and he was using two walking sticks
almost as crutches.

I finally convinced him to sit down on a nearby log for a few minutes while
we talked.  He had indeed twisted his knee badly the day before and rather 
than taking a day off, he had decided to hike.  He was now at a point where
he was in a great deal of pain and progressing very slowly with each step
being an effort.

I offered him one of my knee braces, but he repeatedly refulsed to take it.
I kept telling him that if I were hurt, I would want someone to help me out
the best they could.  I finally just took the brace off and stuffed it in a
pocket of his pack.  Briar was so upset and tired at this point that he
began to sob.  The pain was just exhausting and he was so emotional about
my concern.

I decided to try and figure out how to get him off the trail.  I pulled out
my map and we discussed a few options.  I knew there was a campsite at
Betty Creek with a forest service road nearby.  I figured if I could get
him there and set up a camp for him, I would be able to get help and get
him out.  It was only about a mile further up the trail.

I left Briar sitting on that log and started for Betty Creek.  I figured I
could drop my pack there and then come back and get his pack and help him
down too.  I reached the campsites pretty quickly, but wanted to verify the
water source before I went back for Briar.  I also knew that his pride had
been hurt by his display of emotion and I wanted to give him time to collect
himself and make some progress on his own if possible.  It was a couple of
minutes to the creek and by the time I got back to where I dropped my pack,
Puget Pounder and Never Ready had arrived with Briar in tow.

We all sat and rested a while and discussed our options.  Briar put on my
knee brace and professed that it felt much better.  He refused to allow
us to set up a camp for him and then he just up and hoised his pack again
and set off down the trail at a ridiculously unbalanced stumble.  We all
just looked at each other and Briar called back tous over his shoulder,
"I ain't a scared a no mountain!"

What else could we do?  We just followed him.  Puget Pounder and Never
Ready literally stole his sleeping bag and tent off his pack since he
continually refused any help.  Other than that, we just followed behind
him at a snail's pace as he teetered on up the trail.

It was really a treacherous section of trail as we approached Albert Mtn.
The trail runs along an extremely steep slope and there were numerous
blowdowns and rocky outcroppings to navigate.  I kept expecting Briar to 
just stumble and fall over the edge.

Mala had joined our little procession back at Betty Creek.  He now pressed
on past us to find a blue blaze trail that would skirt the infamously rugged
final ascent of Albert Mtn.  We finally reached the side trail and Mala was
sitting there waiting.  He immediately jumped up, grabbed Briar's elbow,
and started leading him onto the side trail.  Briar made some feeble protests
about blue-blazing off the AT, but he finally went along.

Puget, Never Ready,and I were to continue on the AT and reconnect with Briar
and Mala at the top of Albert.  Ahead of us by the steepest section of trail
we had yet faced.  The last two tenths of a mile were more like climbing
than hiking.  On two separate occasions I had to take Micah's pack off him
and toss it up overhead in order for him to climb the rocks.  If it weren't
for our concern for Briar, it would have been kinda fun.  It was like a
jungle gym section of trail and it was short enough not to make you
completely miserable.

At the top of Albert we waited.  We climbed the fire tower, took some
pictures, ate some snacks - still no Mala and Briar.  Finally, Mala came up
the trail from the North.  He was dripping in sweat.  Briar had just about
collapsed on the trail from the pain and Mala had to shoulder both packs up
the trail.  He had been able to make it to a clearing by a forest service
road, and that's where Briar stayed.

We took off down the trail once again.  Puget Pounder, Never Ready, and Mala
took the side trail to go to Briar and set up his camp.  I headed on to the
Big Spring shelter .6 miles downhill to go and get water.

The shelter was deserted.  I filled my water bag at the spring and headed
back up the mountain carrying a few gallons of water.  Just as I reached 
the side trail, I met Mala, Puget and Never Ready.  They gave me the
directions to Briar's campsite and then headed on down to the shelter.

I found Briar sitting forlornly in the middle of a big open meadow all by
himself.  His tent was set up and his gear was strewn all about him so he 
could reach everything.  I filled his water bottles, transferred the
remaining water to his waterbag, and checked on his food supplies.

He was pretty depressed and finally admitted that he had to come off the
trail.  When I left him, I could see the tears in his eyes as he wished me
the best of luck on my hike.

When your body is singing, the trail is a wonderful place to dance.  When
you are hurt, it can be a dangerous place to linger.  You can't fight the
trail, you can only be lucky enough to flow along in her currents.


March 22 - Day 12
6mi to Wallace Gap - 103.7 mi cum

Right now I'm sitting in a rocker loveseat on the back porch of a cozy
little cabin at Rainbow Springs Campground.  There's a lawn stretching out 
in front of me that runs down a creek.  The sun is setting behind a nearby
ridge, and Micah is curled at my feet.  Mala, Puget Pounder, Never Ready,
and a friend are playing horseshoes down below.

This morning started very early up at Big Spring Shelter.  I woke up at
6 and was on the trail by 6:30.  Last night's sleep was the best I'd had so
far - I didn't have to get up to pee a singe time all night!

Mala passed me within 20 minutes on the trail.  He was racing down the
mountain to get an EMS crew sent up to evacuate Briar.  It was a 6 mile
hike to Wallace Gap.

I waited at the gap for Puget Pounder and Never Ready.  I preferred to do 
the 1 mile roadwalk to Rainbow Springs with them.  We started off in what we
thought was the correct direction and didn't get further than a few hundred
feet before a huge boat of a car pulled over to talk to us.  It was Night
Stalker behind the wheel - a fellow Puget Pounder had talked to on the 
internet a few times.  He informed us that we were headed in the wrong 
direction and then offered to give us all a ride.

We arrived at the campground, checked into some cabins, and I immediately
ordered an oven-baked 12" pepperoni pizza!  We sat outside and talked with
some fellow hikers until our cabins were ready.  The sun was shining, it
was worm out, the company was good, and the pizza pie was awesome, even if
it was only 9:30am.

Dancing Fool is here doing a rest day to help his heel mend.  He has the
biggest, deepest, nastiest blister I've ever seen covering his heel, and it
was getting infected.  He's from Maine, is 18, on limited funds, and has to
be off the trail by August 15th to return to school, so he was really trying
to cover some miles early on.  I also met Buzzard and BDC (Bacon Double
Cheeseburger).  Buzzard's another guy who never backpacked before hitting the
AT and he seems to be doing fine.

Briar was discharged from the hospital and told to not walk for the next 4
days, then he's going to have to decide what to do.  He's from Indiana, so
he's a long way from home.  Puget Pounder and Never Ready picked him up at
the hospital and brought him back here.  He'll be staying in one of the
cabins for a few days.


March 23 - Day 13
0 miles

A wonderful day off at Rainbow Springs enjoying the sunny weather and
relaxing the bones.  I spent some time visiting with Briar, talking with
Tenderfoot, and organizing gear.

Puget Pounder and Never Ready headed on out today.  They wanted to do 6 miles
sothey could watch the eclipse from the top of Siler Bald.  I moved my things
over to another cabin that I shared with Jaded, Animal Cracker, and Chameleon.

My dinner this evening was a quart of ice cream.  Not very nutritious, I
agree, but it was what I wanted.

We stayed up late to watch the eclipse.  I tried my hand at some nighttime
photography, but I'm not very confident that they'll come out.

Rainbow Springs was a very nice stop and I really enjoyed Jensine and Buddy's
hospitality.


March 24 - Day 14
15.4 mi to Licklog Gap - 119.1 mi cum

What a great hiking day!  I felt wonderful out there today, and I guess it
shows in the mileage we covered.  We actually had a 16.4 mile day because
we had to do a 1 mile roadwalk from Rainbow Springs.

Today was the first time I hiked with someone since Brent left me at Neels
Gap back on the 15th.  Tenderfoot has struck up a friendship with Micah
after spending a great deal of time with him yesterday.  Tenderfoot's from
Connecticut, about 20 years old, and just broke from his hiking partner.  He
doesn't have a databook now for trail info, so we'll probably hike together
until we reach the Nantahala Outdoor Center where he can get a databook.  
He's really enjoying Micah's company since he couldn't bring his own dog.
We had a nice day talking as we hiked and it helped make the miles pass.

We had a great lunch sitting on Siler Balk with a 360 view for entertainment.
We spotted some deer earlier in the day.  It was the first sighting of any
mammals other than squirrels for both of us.

As we approached Licklog Gap, we had to take an unexpected reroute of the 
AT due to mudslide damage on the trail.  We finally stumbled into camp
around 4:30 - exhausted, but proud of ourselves.  15.4 was the longest day
either of us had had so far.

There are 7 of us camped here.  4 are thru-hikers.  Around 8, after all
had gone to bed, a bunch of noisy young hikers came through camp yelling to
one another.  Micah started to growl and bark at them from inside my tent
and I have to confess I egged him on.  The group decided to camp elsewhere
and as soon as they were out of earshot, Sauerkraut, Goat, and Tenderfoot
called out their thanks to Micah.  :^)


March 25 - Day 15
9.3 mi to Wesser Balk Shelter - 128.4 mi cum

A pretty uneventful hiking day.  Tenderfoot and I had agreed to sleep in
this morning.  We were the last to leave camp and didn't hit the trail until
after 9.  Tenderfoot was having a rough day.  Yesterday really seemed to do
him in.  He hadn't bought any snackfood type stuff while at Rainbow Springs,
so I've been sharing all my granola bars and candy bars with him.

We're tenting tonight with Mala.  The shelter is full with 6 people.  There
haven't been any registers in the shelters lately, so it's hard to tell how
everybody's doing.

There's a 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms tonight.  I just hope it 
blows through by morning.  We're planning to hit the trail early tomorrow
so we can get tot he NOC early enough for breakfast at the River's End
Restaurant.  I could really go for some coffee, homefries, and maybe a 
cheese omelette.  It's 5.7 miles all downhill from here, but those downhills
can be really hard on your knees.


March 26 - Day 16
8.8 mi to Grassy Gap - 137.2 mi cum

We broke camp in a cool drizzle.  I'm really getting quite good at breaking
camp.  I have all my gear in the tent with me and pop out of the tent in the
mornings all set to go except for my tent.  We were headed for town by 7am.

The trail was pretty tough, but the thought of breakfast at River's End
Restaurant really speeded our steps.  We covered 5.7 miles and descended
over 3000 feet by 9:15am.  It was really neat to see the progression of
spring as we descended to the lower elevations.  There were wildflowers of
many more varieties and many of the trees were starting to leaf out.  Mala
and Tenderfoot took some good spills on the rain slickened trail, but we
all made it in one piece, and with a raging appetite.

What was supposed to be just a 3 or 4 hourlayover at the Nantahala Outdoor
Center turned into a 5 hour visit.  I was so pleased to have letters and
cards waiting for me in addition to my maildrop.  I received mail from 
Felix, Mike, Tom, Woodelf, and Michael Diebert.  Please be careful how you
address your letters.  I saw several instances where the NOC was returning
mail to sender because it didn't say "Hold for AT Thru-hiker."

I called the Fontana Motel to confirm some reservations I had made, and was
relayed a greeting from Gypsy.  It sounds like she headed off into the 
Smokies yesterday.

Mala and I finally headed back out on the trail by around 2:30.  It's a
tough climb up out of the Nantahala Gorge.  We had originally hoped to do 
6 miles to Swim Bald, but soon decided to content ourselves with just 3.1
miles to Grassy Gap.  We'll tackle the remainder of the climb tomorrow.

We're camped with Red Wing, Dragonfly, and two section hikers.  I'm ready to
hike alone again, but Mala asked me to wake hiim tomorrow as I'm breaking
camp.  I've enjoyed the conversations I've had with Mala and Tenderfoot
the last few days, but I'd really like to be off by myself again for a while.

Oh yeah, I saw a flying squirrel today!  He was gliding through the air 
right across the trail as I descended into Wright Gap.  I've never seen one
before and it was pretty unsettling at first to see this little gray/brown
form sailing through the air.


March 27 - Day 17
12.9 mi to Brown Fork Gap Shelter - 150.1 mi cum

Today was one of my toughest days both mentally and physically.  I woke up
early and soon could tell that my legs weren't at their best.  I dawdled
in my tent so that Mala would leave camp before me.  I desparately wanted
to hike alone today, but things didn't work out that way.

I left camp about 7:45, a half hour after Mala.  He's a strong hiker when
he wants to be, but he's known for taking breaks quite frequently.

The climb up to Swim Bald was tough.  I'm really glad we didn't try to
make it there yesterday afternoon.  It's really not much of a bald at all,
so I just continued on up to the shelter.  My normal hiking pace is about
2mph.  This morning was another story though.  For the first 3 miles,  I
was barely making 1.5 mph.  That climb out of Nantahala Gorge is not to
be taken lightly.

By the time I reached the Sassafras Gap Shelter at 10am, I had already
caught up to Mala, and he and I would continue to flip flop for the rest of
the day.  If I let him go ahead, he would take a break and wait for me.  If
I tried to take the lead, he would invariably rush to catch up tome.  I was
quite frustrated by both my lack of solitude and the fact that my body
wasn't "running" right.

Eventually, I took a really nasty fall on a particularly rocky section of
trail.  I think it was a combination of fatigue and being distracted by 
Mala's footsteps behind me.  It was a steep section of trail and my fall
left me teetering over a steep side of the mountain.  It must have been 
like watching a slow motion movie.  I could see myself sprawled on those
rocks, fighting the momentum of my pack that wanted to carry me over the
side of that mountin.  I finally regained enough balance to pull myself
upright and sat for a minute.  Mala rushed to my side and we both kinda
laughed at me.  I picked myself up and we continued on to Stecoah Gap, 
where I rested for an hour and ate.

As I prepared to leave, I explained to Mala that I wanted to do the last
2.4 miles of the day alone.  I explained that I was tired, and really needed
to focus all of my energy on just hiking.  He would take the lead and 
promised not to wait for me.  Mala left, I waited 5 minutes, and then
followed.  I caught up to him within a half hour.  He was seated on the side
of the trail.  I was a little peeved at first, but didn't get really mad
until he got up and donned his pack to follow right behind me!  That anger 
must have been just what I needed.  We were facing an extremely tough
half mile of trail - an 800 foot climb in approximately 4 tenths of a mile.
I left Mala in my dust.  I just wanted to hike alone, is that too hard to
understand?

So here I am, camped at the shelter with Mala and 4 other thru-hikers.
Tomorrow I WILL hike alone.  Mala asked me to wake him in the morning,
but I'm going to try and be the first out of camp and I plan to maintain
my lead, or have some very blunt words with whoever decides to catch me!


March 28 - Day 18
12.7 mi to Fontana Hilton - 162.8 mi cum

It wasn't a question of if I would fall today, it was just a matter of when,
where, and how extensive would the damage be.  I awoke to a steady rain at
about 5:30.  I decided to stay in bed for a while and let Mala head out
first today.  I laid in my bag and read a few chapters of my book.  Mala
finally headed out at 7:30 and I decided to hit the trail 1 hour later.

It rained the entire day.  The trail was extremely slippery and you could
see all the skid marks from those whe had preceded me.  Large portions of
the trail ran along the sides of the mountains and the trail itself was 
actually canted to one side, ready to send you skidding off the side.  I
even saw Micah wipe out once.

This section of the trail has had numerous rock strewn sections that are
almost like rivers of boulders flowing down the side of the mountain.  The
rocks range in size from 6" across to 4' across.

As I descended into Fontana, I could see the trillium comine up and
preparing to bloom.  It looked like a yellow and burgandy variety were
the most common.

I'm staying at Fontana Dam Shelter tonight, better known as the Hilton.
This is the first time Micah and I have actually slept in a shelter.  There
are 11 thru-hikers here, but it's really not that crowded.  Most of them
are younger hikers, 18-23.  It's funny listenting to their conversations.
Justin A Walk and 2-Ton are planning to make a movie called AT Vacation -
I've gotten to hear about several scenes already.  Kind of a combination
of Chevy Chase and Cheech & Chong do the AT.


March 29 - Day 19
Day off on Fontana.  No journal entry.

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