[at-l] Take care ya don't kill yerself

["Felix J. McGillicuddy" <AThiker@smithville.net>]

Welp, I gave you a day off yesterday. But, I shall now give you
yesterday's 'year ago today'. Kinda like when credit card companies say
'no minimum due' but they still charge you finance charges. Kinda like
that. Not exactly like it, or anything.

So, a year ago yesterday I got up and went in to Mt. Moma's to tell her
thanks for dinner and Merry Christmas. She said, "Well, ya better sit
down and have a cup of coffee." I did. I also had a cup of cake, with a
little Santa on top. We talked for a while. It was very nice. I went
outside, to the payphone, and called Pokey. I hadn't talked to her in
six weeks. Since the day she left the Trail in Linden. It was good to
hear the old girl's voice. I cried. She cried. She said "You're breakin'
my heart here." I suppose. I hung up, turned and walked across the
parking lot in another heavy rain. Emotions were leaking out of my very
existence (I don't even know what that means other than it was an
emotional little walk)

I got my Smokys permit at the Ranger station and Ranger George gave me a
ride to the Trail. We had a nice chat. His two-way radio kept talking
about roads being closed and how bad the weather was. Kinda exciting. He
let me out and I headed into the Smokys. The Trail was covered with
chunks of ice the size of golf balls. I cranked the Walkman and hiked
on. My thoughts were swimming in the conversation I had had with Pokey.
I wasn't paying attention to much around me other than the Rhododendrons
that were hanging down on the Trail, covered with ice.

I got to Davenport Gap Shelter and stopped for a quick snack and to
check the register. As I sat there, I heard a God-awful sound. A tree
had come crashing down just behind the shelter. Actually, it was just
the top half. But, with the extra weight of the ice, the sound was
incredible. I thought "Wow!!!" I went back inside the shelter. Another
crash. I went back outside and did a little closer inspection. It was
just then that I realized that I was in the middle of a full-force ice
storm Every tree was bent, or sagging, because of the extra weight of
the rain and ice. Trees were popping, exploding. A tree would groan a
few times, and then, at a point nature chose to be the weakest, it would
explode and the top would plummet to the ground, ice flying off the
branches at impact. It was so cool, and scary.

I decided I wanted out of the shelter. I figured I'd have a better
chance seeing a tree coming at me from outside. I signed the register
and headed up the hill. The next few hours were some of the most
incredible hours I've ever spent. Watching nature do her thing, from the
inside, was amazing. Climbing through treetops with branches covered in
ice as think as your wrist, listening as the next top falls 30 feet in
front, or behind you, is an indescribable experience. (That's why I'm
doing such a poor job of describing it.)

This went on for nearly two hours. As I climbed higher on the ridge, the
air got warmer, and the rain remained rain. I could still hear trees
falling below me. I was glad it was over, but glad that I'd been part of
it, too. It rained every step this day. I took a break at Cosby Knob and
not again until Tricorner. The shelter there was a mud pit. It usually
is. Somewhere is a transcribed copy of what I wrote in the register that
night. I'll look for it. I may even scan the copy that bugbite sent me.

Through the night, it cleared enough for it to get cold. Freezing cold.
I woke up the next morning, a year ago today, Christmas Day, and headed
up a crunching, frozen Trail. I was glad. Crunching is better than
sloshing. The sky was actually clear above, and the valleys below were
full of the 'smoke' that is the namesake of these mountains. At one
point I saw what I thought were bobcat prints. I don't know if there are
bobcats here or not. It could have been a fox. I don't know if there are
foxes here or not.

I made really good time this day. I was surprised to find the Trail
crowded from Icewater Spring to Newfound Gap. It was a beuatiful day.
Mid-twenties and clear. I got to Mt. Collins shelter a little before 5.
That shelter is a beautiful place just before sunset on a crisp, cold
Christmas evening. The fire the two boys from Cincinnati had built was a
beautiful thing, too. I'll never forget the one who looked at me and
said "That fire'd cost you $8,000 if you bought the wood at a
convenience store." I laffed then. I laff now.

I had an enjoyable evening with these two guys. They didn't necessarily
practice some of the LNT techniques the way I'd have liked for them to.
But, they were harmless, overall. They gave me my first-ever drink of
Jaegermeister. Nyquil from the liquor store. They also gave me
hair-covered cheese and salami. In the dark, it all taste the same. I
smoked a cigar.

(again, this story is on my page at
http://Felixhikes.tripod.com/AT/ew.html)


--
Felix Navidad

ME-->GA 98
"Your Move"
http://Felixhikes.tripod.com/



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