[at-l] Re:trip report

[hopefl@juno.com]

Evening ya'll, remember me? Ten days is a long time to be away from the
list and all. Wow, yesterday was full. I woke early and was eager to get
headed home so I could see Tyler (grandchild number one). Yes, the bugger
decided to come early, cotton pick his time. All my clever plans to be
back for his birth went right down the tubes. Kids, what do you do
with'm.

He show up about supper time on the 23rd. I didn't learn about it til I
got to Damascus and all the shouting was over by then so I decided to
finish my hike and see him once I got back. Oh well. I guess we'll keep
him even if he has all the signs of being a trouble maker. I better keep
my eye on that boy, he might take after his daddy! I got to thinking on
what his trail name should be. Well, I'm sorta leaning towards Early,
kinda fits, don't you think? BTW, he already has some tiny hiking
booties!

Now about that hike. I got off around 630 Friday morning and co-worker
Jerry called the house about 715 with something for me to do.
Eat-your-heart-out-Jerry. Anyhow, it was a very pleasant drive to
Damascus where I met Bob Peoples at the Mt Rogers Outfitters. Bob runs
the Kincora and is a gem even if he is one of THOSE kind of yankees.
Actually, being that we are both former military and were in Vietnam at
the same time, we told 'war' stories for hours and just had a great time.


Bob shuttled me from Damascus to US19, I started out hiking about 2pm. I
had decided to push it on this trip just so I could have some mental pegs
to hang my confidence on. So, I managed to get in about 7.5 miles by
7:00. I had to cross some pretty but rugged country. There was a bit of
blow down which I marked on my guide to report to Bob as I passed the
Kincora. 

About 7:00, I crossed the Walnut Mt Rd and was surprised to hear car
traffic. I laid back in the wood til I could see who it was. On the "road
walk" that afternoon, I stirred up Bubba's dogs and he was glaring at me
for it. Bob allows that a 20 mile reloc is planned to by-pass the Apple
House shelter and the "road walk" and I guess that is a good idea but one
heck of a project.

Anyhow, when I saw it was just a van I felt ok and passed over the road
once they were gone. Well, can you believe that I'd no soon got across
til I heard another car! Being that it was right at dark and being that I
come from a long line of moonshiners and being that I was right smack in
the middle of nowhere, well sir, I figured there was some mischief afoot.
I got on over behind a thicket of laurels where I was well out of sight
of the gravel road and found a spot to tent for the night. I had eaten a
big lunch coming from Damascus so I decided to just have a snack and get
on in the tent without turning on my light. There was a good bit of
traffic on the Walnut Mt road all night so about day light, I packed up
and moved on without cooking my grits or making coffee. The cars didn't
prevent me from have a very good night's rest. The air was crisp and the
stars were out in force! I slept with the tent open so I could just lay
there and watch the heavens.

I left the Walnut Mt road area about 0700 and got to Moreland Gap shelter
about noon. I stopped to get water and cook some lunch. It was way too
early to stop so I pressed on to the White Rock Fire tower. I was there
by 3pm so I stopped to rest and take in the view. The sun was out and the
ground was dry so I couldn't resist taking a snooze for about 20 minutes.
After that I figured I might as well head on to the Kincora, I got there
just after 5pm. 

No one was home so I sat on the steps for an hour and then decided to go
on in and make my own self at home. By and by, UVRay (class of 98) showed
up. He had hiked in from US19 where he started that morning! My hat is
off to him for making those long miles. We talked til late in the evening
and decide to turn in. Next morning (Sunday, 21st) we were up early and
met Pat who is Bob's wife. 

Bob mentioned that he often slacked hikers to the north side of Pond Mt
because it is a very steep climb from the south, with few switch backs.
Also he mentioned that he had a lot of blow down to clear in the Laurel
Gorge. I offered to meet him in the gorge as I came down off Pond Mt and
help buck the saw. Being a wilderness area chain saws are a no-no. We
worked several hours and managed to clear all but one tree. I hadn't used
a cross cut saw since I was in high school, it brought back lots of
memories......like soar muscles and 'skint' hands!

It was after dark by the time we got near the Dennis Cove trail head. Pat
was walking in to check on Bob because he was over due back at the house.
I told him to work faster but he wouldn't listen. Anyhow, when we got
back to the hostel we met Morning and Dahrma. They started north from
Springer on Feb 3. 

Monday the 22nd Bob drove me back to 321 on the north side of Pond Mt and
I headed out for Iron Mt shelter. I was a day ahead of schedule. I walked
hard all day but it was dark when I got to the shelter. I was really beat
down but I had covered 15 miles which included a long climb from Watauga
Dam to the Vanderverter shelter where I took a break before moving on.

Next morning I was off by 800 and was at the Double Spring shelter by
noon so I cooked some lunch and laid down on the picnic table and slept
for a bit. In my mind I look just like a turtle on a log! Anyway, I
headed on out after lunch and finished 16 total miles to the Abingdon
shelter. That day was the only day I've ever been on the AT without
meeting some other hikers.

Wednesday I decided to try one more mental experiment. I wanted to see if
I could hike 10 miles to Damascus without stopping. Well, I met Rotten
Rodney about 5 or 6 miles into the hike. He was headed south and had been
hiking most of the winter. He and his brother did a northbound thru hike
in 1982. Anyway, I stopped for about 15 minutes to talk with him. We sat
under a tree because it had started to rain. It looked like the rain had
set in for good so we figured we might as well move on. I got to Damascus
about 1130 with just the one stop to visit with Rodney. I managed to get
two good blister on my feet but I proved to my own mind that if the need
arose I could do long miles and fast miles. 

In Damascus, I got a bbq sandwich and then went to the Place and cleaned
up. I put out my bag and slept for an hour or two and then some other
hikers came in. I hung out with Twice (doing his hike "twice") for the
time I was in Damascus. Late Thursday, Morning and Dahrma showed up so
they joined the small group that had formed at the Place. It was fun
listening to those kids talk about their plans and their hike and just
their lives in general. 

Friday morning I got a late start for the Saunders shelter. I took my
time and enjoy the walk because the (Beaverdam?) River was in sight most
of the time, well about half the time. Finally I started a very long
climb up to the top of the mountain where Saunders is located. I was very
impressed with all the work that had gone into the switchbacks. They sure
made the climb up from the river much easier. I hiked the 9.9 miles
between 1000 and 3:30.

Saturday, I hiked the six miles to Lost Mt shelter to met Plodder and
Scooter, who were giving me a ride back to my truck in Damascus. I was
glad to see them and thought it was a great day to be Jonathan's
(Scooter) birthday. I found a Snicker bar in my food bag and gave it to
him for a present. We opted to  go back to the Place. We fixed a really
good Spanish rice type supper that all the other folks seemed to think
smelled good. Of course Plodder's hot bread was right up to snuff! Boy, I
surely was looking forward to those biscuits......I was not disappointed.


Sunday, we all rode to Abingdon for the Shoney's breakfast bar. Twice,
Hurse and The King of Spain rode with me and I brought them back to the
Place afterwards. Twice lives in Knoxville so as I headed to Harrison I
shuttled him home to visit his folks before resuming his hike. And a good
time was had by all. 

BTW, the trail volunteers have been hard at work so there isn't much blow
down on the trail over these 80 odd miles. All the springs seem to be
flowing well also. Maybe these are signs of a great hiking
season.....like there is a bad hiking season.         Hopeful

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