[at-l] A trip report?

[DaRedhead@aol.com]

Well, plans for Cassy to do a section with me bombed, because she still 
wasn't feeling real good - so we camped with her at Spivey Gap next to a 
creek, so she wouldn' t be disappointed (she was REALLY hyped about sleeping 
in a tent).  So she had her first outdoor, roasting marshmellows, sleeping in 
a tent, and going - you know- in the woods :)  She loved it.  So, the next 
morning I packed up my pack and grabbed my leki's and hit the Trail.  I could 
have slacked it, as Toney was going to leave my vehicle at Uncle Johnnys - 
but I was SUPPOSED to do an overnighter, and I felt like that would be 
cheating, even though it technically was a day hike?  Or does the fact that I 
slept on the Trail and then hiked out count?  Hmmmm....

Anyway, I left Spivey Gap full of excitement, being back on the Trail with a 
pack (however unnessecary) on my back, so to speak.  Two minutes later, I was 
huffing and puffing up the hill, blessing various deities for my Leki's.  I 
love them.  They made the ups a little easier - but the downs a whole lot 
easier.  (easier being a relative word)  The 4.2 miles to the shelter seemed 
to take forever.  But actually it was about 2 and 1/2 hours.  That seemed 
really slow to me - and I was wondering if I'd make the 7 miles from there to 
the river before dark at that pace!  There were a few places on the Trail 
that could have used a few more blazes, a few blow downs but only one I had 
to remove my pack for, and no views to speak of between Spivey and the 
shelter.  A lot of playing ring around the ridges, though.

The Trail guide seemed totally wrong on elevation and the amounts of ups and 
downs on this section (no, can you believe it?? Inaccuracy in a Trail 
description?? No way.)  But maybe it was just me.  I got to the shelter, 
looking foward to a nice hot lunch, when I realized I had no lighter or 
matches.  (yes, folks, I quit smoking (so far))  As I am not used to going 
anywhere without one, I hadn't even thought about it.  So I had crackers and 
cheese, and read the Trail register.  I see I missed a few folks with 
journals on Trailpace I would have liked to have met.  I didn't hang around 
too long, as worried as I was about my slow pace.  I left a note (with the 
messages people gave me) and signed the register, noting that my soon to be 
ex had been there a few weeks before.  It seemed very strange to me, us being 
there at different times, and not together.  But oh well . . . An interesting 
point, they did a "prescribed burn" on March 30th, and there was a note 
posted about it on the tree at the Trail head.  The leaves/ground/whatever 
were charred all around in spots, and a heavy smoke smell still remained.  
The Forest Service apparently shuttled hikers around and back so they 
wouldn't be out there during the burn - but one hiker signed in the register 
that night.  He had been doing some night hiking and missed the sign.  Ended 
up right in the middle of it pretty much, but said they had a firewall around 
the shelter and he was really glad it was concrete.  He claims he wasn't 
scared . . . <g> but indicated he would be delighted if it started raining.  
For myself, I wonder how that works.  I mean, how do they burn the forest but 
not really burn the forest?  Any firefighters out there?

So, I began the trek to the river.  There were a lot more ups than I had 
counted on (did I mention I love those Leki's??) but then again, they 
relocated the Trail to add another long stretch of down, too, so that the two 
miles down to the river was closer to three.  The trees are already blooming, 
although the scortched earth really put a weird cast to the whole view.  
After a few good windsucking, knee crunching stretches, ring around the 
ridges gave way to ridgewalking - up and down, up and down, up and down and 
then just when I was getting the hang of it, up and down, down, down, down, 
down.  The only saving grace is that it is mostly switchbacks, so it is a 
gentler decent than it could have been.  Still, down is down.  Just ask my 
knees.  Surprisingly enough (right), my legs were shaking and numb by the 
time I broke out on the top of the ridge with the first real view - looking 
down over the river, I could see the campground and the hostel - and they 
looked REALLY tiny and far away.  But oh, what a view.  And the temps were up 
to 78 degrees.  The sun was out.  So I continued on, a bunch of switchbacks 
and then another view just like that one.  By the time I got to the third 
such view, I was wondering if I was stuck in a never seen scene from 
Groundhog Day.  I was hot, thirsty, tired, and thinking that maybe my limit 
was 10 miles a day, and that's why I couldn't seem to finish that 11th mile.  
But finally, I started to near the bottom, and I was dreaming of a nice cold 
coke out of the machine on Uncle Johnnys porch.  As I staggered onto the 
road, (exactly 3 1/2 hours after I left the shelter, so my pace wasn't as bad 
as I thought, I guess) I could already taste it.  Alas - I had no money with 
me.  Two stray dimes in my pack were all I could find.  So I walked up on the 
porch and offered a shuttle into town to any thru hiker who bought me a pepsi 
<g>  Uncle Johnny ended up buying me the pepsi, but I still gave them the 
shuttle.  They were Hopper, Shanarra, and SinGenHawk?  (I didn't ask how to 
spell it, so I'm guessing)  Hopper had passed me on the way down.  I took 
them to town and waited while they shopped and got Subway and Taco bell (did 
I mention they were just finishing lunch from Pizza Plus when I got there? 
<vbg>)  So, I took them back and headed home.  My legs felt kind of rubbery, 
but all in all, I was happily exhausted.  Only one thing - now I know why 
Thorlo's and other hiking socks are so expensive.  I couldn't find mine, so 
wore regular socks, and my feet hate me.  They sprouted a blister even, and 
I've never had a blister in these boots before.  Go figure.

The Redhead
Ga > Me  00
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