[at-l] Backpack at Mt. Mitchell (NC)

[AT1996@aol.com]

I am really lucky.  This was an official club backpack so I had to do it.  
The backpack was from Mt. Mitchell (NC) to Deep Gap, which went over five 
sixers (Mt. Craig, Big Tom, Balsom Cone, Cattail and Potato Hill).  As it has 
been very hot where we live I was thrilled at the thought of escaping the 
heat and to hike in the mountains.   The warmest temps we had were 67*.  
Mostly the temperature hovered around 60.  

The group consisted of Dan, two ladies and myself.  One of the women told us 
her trail name is Woman Falling Down, and we soon found out how she got that 
name.  On the return trip, Barbara and I stopped to talk to another hiking 
and told him about our friend who had fallen at this spot going in.  Rounding 
the corner, there was Michelle, on her back in the brush.  She was begging us 
to help her up.  Instead we started laughing and grabbed cameras to take her 
picture.  She was good sport about it and even posed (which meant she moved 
her arms since everything else was immobile).  

This hike has gorgeous views when the peaks are not in the clouds (which is 
almost all the time).  The trail was quite strenuous and I was afraid the 
ladies might be upset with me, although the hike was not long.  It turned out 
they were quite proud of themselves for completing it.  

Oh, one of the women is a big Martha Stewart fan and she sucked me into 
making pancakes for Dan.  I didn't do very well and instead of having 
pancakes, it looked sort of like scrambled eggs.  But with fresh blueberries 
in them the mess tasted pretty good.  Next time I'll stick to oatmeal.  

Gutsy
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