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[at-l] 4/15/97 journal

Hey all! The journal posting continues. Just to let you know, i didn't
write every day i was on the trail, so there will be some gaps (i
think the longest is about a month where i just wasn't finding the
time or desire to write). This is still the early stages though, so i
was still eager to get my thoughts on paper! Happy hump (and tax) day!

-Rambleon-
rambleon@email.unc.edu

4/15/97
Didn't get a chance to write the last couple days. It has been quite
interesting to say the least. On 4/13 i hiked from Blue Mt. Shelter to
Tray Mountain Shelter, and was planing on staying the night there.
Brad hiked up at about 3:00 and said he was heading to the "feast" at
Addis Gap, about 5.5 miles further. I remembered seeing the signs for
it coming out of Neels Gap. If any word other than "feast" had been
used, i  probably would have waited until the next day. I pushed on
though, and boy was it worth it! It was "Gordo's 4th Annual Addis Gap
Feast". It was held about 0.5 miles off the trail at the site of the
old Addis Gap Shelter. They had a bunch of tents set up with food and
drink everywhere. They also had a nice fire going. Within minutes of
dropping my pack i was handed a warm cup of homemade soup with ham
chunks and all kinds of goodies in it. The had 2 KEGS!! One was Abita
Turbo Dog and the other was Heineken. All kinds of fresh fruit
(strawberries and cream...mmmmm), cakes, boiled peanuts, cookies,
chips, orange juice, cranberry juice, water, IT WAS CRAZY! For dinner
they cooked up 50 POUNDS OF CRAB LEGS!! Gordo had all kinds of cooking
stoves and things, and it was truly insane. I mean, crab legs and
Turbo Dog on the AT?!?! One of the guys went by the Nug Man, and he
was very kind to say the least. Gordo used to follow the Dead, and
this is "something for him to spend his money on now that the Dead
aren't touring any more." It must have cost him at _least_ 1500$. His
friends Pete, Susan, Kelly, Jason, Sunny (Nug Man), Mike, Jenny, and
Jim all helped out. Jenny made rum balls, cheese balls, and "herbal"
tea. I ate from 5:30 pm until i left the next day at 2:30 pm. Major
trail magic. I guess the whole thing started about 4 or 5 years ago
when Gordo and Mike hiked up to Tray Mt. one day. They had some
leftover fruit and decided to give it to some thru-hikers before they
left. They said the eyes of the thru-hikers lit up like they were poor
folk who had just been handed a gold bar. From there, it's grown to
epic proportions. Fellowship and kindness - i just wrote about them a
few days ago. The AT can really help restore faith in your fellow man.
I finally broke out of there at about 2:30 yesterday and tented by
myself at Moreland Gap, about 1.2 miles south of Dick's Creek. One
nice vista from McClure Gap maybe? I was out early last night even
though i only hiked about 5 miles. I really started missing Heather at
one point when i was just standing around the tent, and it lasted for
a while. I broke out of there early this morning and got a ride back
to The Blueberry Patch with Gary. Again, fellowhip and kindness. The
Blueberry Patch is an organic farm that Gary and his wife Lennie run.
They have a hostel for hikers. Gary thru-hiked with his son in '91.
They feed you a blueberry pancake breakfast (organic!), do your
laundry for you, and let you have a shower, bunk, and use the phone!
All for just 15$! It is a beautiful little farm with a nice river
behind it. That is where i am sitting right now - on a little dock on
the river. I've seen two snakes, a few fish, and some birds while
sitting here. There are some cows in a pasture on the other side. It's
nestled right under a couple little mountains. Incredible. I should be
all rested and ready to rambleon by tomorrow morning. It takes all i
can muster just to soak all of this up. Gary and Lennie are truly kind
people. Amazing. Oh yeah, tomorrow i will be in North Cackalacka, so
i'm almost 1 state down. Woo Hoo! Maybe more later, but until then i'm
sittin' plush....


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