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[Editor's note: My comments are in square brackets - Wendy]
March 23, 2001 - Hawk Mt. Shelter
Birds seen (s) and heard (h) today: Carolina Wren (s,h), Pileated Woodpecker (s), Downy Woodpecker (h), Phoebe (h), White-eyed Vireo (h)
Miles: Approach Trail 8.8 mi., 5 1/2 hr. AT 7.6 mi., 2 3/4 hr.
Wendy took me to the train station in D.C. on Mar 21 where I caught the AMTRAK "Crescent" to GA. This is an overnight trip and I don't sleep well in moving vehicles. I think I may have dozed off for a couple of minutes but that was about it. One of the nearby passengers that noticed I had sat up all night reading said that I would make a good "soldier".
I found my way from the train station in Atlanta to the "MARTA" subway by successive approximations. A whole 1 1/2 miles and I had to ask directions twice. After a short ride to the Atlanta REI co-op, I did a little browsing in the store and then read a book the rest of the afternoon. Fellow AT bulletin board visitor Chuck Williams gave me a ride to Amicalola Falls. [Thanks, Chuck!]
I spent the night at an AT shelter behind the visitors' center with another prospective end-to-ender, Dave, from eastern PA. I got a late start (for me, anyway) at a little after 7 a.m. the next morning. Now I know how to sleep well - stay awake 50 hours first. I underestimated the time to do the approach trail. I had expected 4-5 hours, closer to 4. Once I reached the peak of Springer, though, it was very easy going.
I saw relatively few hikers today. There were about a dozen day hikers, a 20-strong scout troop at Stover Creek Shelter, and a couple who had thru-hiked in 1987 (I think). They are doing a one week trip from USFS 42 north.
The army just went over in a "Huey". Where's my handheld SAM?
There are a number of people in the shelter but I found an out-of-the-way tent site, so I haven't talked to any of them.
March 24, 2001 - Somewhere just S. of Jarrard Gap
Birds: Grouse (drumming), Tufted Titmouse (h), Chickadee (h), Goldfinch (s)
Flowers!: Yellow Violets, Purple Violets, Bloodroot
Miles: ~ 16.2, time: 11 hr.
I met a number of the other end-to-enders today. I travelled most of the day within sight of other northbounders. Of course, it's the weekend, so there was the usual flood of day hikers and weekenders.
Leap frogged all day with a guy from Derry, PA. Derry is just a few miles from my grandmother's house where I spent all my childhood summers. He got the last leap and is pressing on to Woods Hole shelter. It was cold last night and is already chilly this evening. But the days have been almost perfect hiking weather.
A (cold?) front has moved in, but so far, only scattered sprinkles have accompanied it.
March 25, 2001 - Low Gap Shelter
Birds: Nuthatch (h), Woodpecker (type?) [Red-headed, based on Curt's description of it in a letter to me] (s), Slate Junco (s), Towhee (s)
Flowers: Bluets
AT Miles: ~ 17.5 time: 10.25 hrs.
Cold night last night. It got below freezing as evidenced by the patches of ice on the trail. Some of the higher elevations still have patches of snow. Blood mountain in particular had about 4 inch[es] of packed snow for about 50 yards along the trail.
Well, yesterday it was a guy from Derry - today I met a guy from Bowie, MD, five miles from home. He works for Jackson and Tull [a local engineering firm], about a quarter mile from home.
March 26, 2001 - Sassafras Gap
Birds: Barred Owl (h)
Miles: 19.4 time: 11 hrs
It was well below freezing again last night as evidenced by the layer of ice on the water in the bottle that I had in the tent with me. It was also quite windy.
The fellow from Derry (whose name I never got) got off trail at Red Clay Gap to go to the hostel. He says he will return "somewhat wiser".
It feels like another cold night coming.
March 27, 2001 - Muskrat Shelter
Birds: Hawk (s), Crow (h), Bluebird (s)
Miles: 17.7 time: 11.5 hours
It was even colder last night than the previous two. There was frost on the outside of my sleeping bag when I awoke. There is a noisy group here at Muskrat this evening so I am glad that I am camping some distance from the shelter. The last two days I have passed large groups still camped in the morning and again in the evening but have not seen anybody during the day.
March 28, 2001 - Big Spring Shelter
Miles: 19.3 time: 11.25 hr.
The last few days have featured lots of snow on the ground. The further north I go, the more there is. The top of Blood Mt. is covered, as is the entire south side of Mt. Tray, although the trail there is mostly clear. That was not true of today's hike, which had long stretches of packed snow on the trail. Camped here at Big Spring, there is snow cover everywhere except around the shelter and at the tent sites. There is a noisy group at the shelter again.
Met Mary, who started to thru hike with her daughter last year and broke an ankle at Gooch Gap. She started again this year from Gooch. She says the leg which had the broken ankle is bothering her. I know the feeling. [Curt broke his ankle in, I think, 1979. It still bothers him sometimes]. I passed a fellow today who told me "You must be motivating to pass me". I can't imagine why - he was moving at a snail's pace.
Somewhere in front of me is "The Gnome". The Gnome started at Key West and is going to New Brunswick.
The hand stitching that I did on my hip belt (the machine would not sew it) has come out and I have patched temporarily with a piece of nylon cord. I need a warm day (or hostel) to be able to handle a needle and thread to patch it properly. My water filter has been erratic the last couple of days. If I play with it a while I can usually get it to work, but this morning I gave up and just drank the water from Kimsey Creek. Hope I'm immune to everything in the water. None of my three pens would write well yesterday. I think they were frozen. I kept this one in my pocket all day.
Speaking of things in my pockets, Merg, the stowaway, lives in my left breast pocket. [That's "Murgatroyd", a furry mouse kitty toy who needed to escape from his feline tormentors back home].
It has gotten overcast and quiet. I don't like the sound of it.
March 29, 2001 - About 1 mile S. of Licklog Gap
Miles: 20.2 time: 11.5 hours
Birds: Blue Jay (h), Robin (s)
Just after dark last night, it began to sleet and it continued sporadically through the night. This morning when I awoke, it had changed to light rain. Wendy had warned me that the tent had just been waterproofed and that it had not been acceptance tested. It fails - the foot of my sleeping bag was saturated with water. I laid for a few minutes watching as each drop of rain melted a little hole in the pile of sleet along the edge of the tent. Finally, I decided I'd better get moving and had breakfast, put on my rain gear, packed, and moved on.
The trail conditions were abominable. Most of it was 2-3 inch deep muck from the combination of rain and snow melt. The majority of the rest was a mixture of muck and slush. By mid-day, it looked like I had been cave exploring. In fact, I've stayed cleaner on some cave trips.
I finally finished the day at a makeshift campsite near Licklog Gap. There was no water nearby so I fired up the stove to melt some snow. On one of my trips in and out of the tent, I somehow caught the sleeping bag, dragging it right over the lit stove. One large hole and several smaller ones were the result. I have made repairs with (naturally) duct tape. Hopefully, this is the worst day of the trip.
March 30, 2001 - Nantahala Outdoor Center
Snakes: 1 [Here's Curt's description of the snake from his letter to me: "...black and yellow striped lengthwise, black spots (kinda square spots) on the yellow stripes. About two feet long". I haven't been able to figure out the species]
Birds: Phoebe (h), Carolina Wren (s, h)
Flowers: Spring Beauty, Cinquefoil
Miles: 16.2 time: 10 hours
Yesterday's rain was steady and the clouds were very slow moving, so I was surprised to see the sun this morning. As I passed through Licklog Gap, I saw off to the east what I at first thought was a large lake. Then I realized that it was in fact the top of the cloud layer. For the rest of the morning and the early afternoon, I was treated to the sight of cloud tops with mountain peak "islands" poking through. The trail would sometimes drop to within a few hundred feed of the clouds before ascending again.
The trail itself was in remarkably good shape considering yesterday's mess. Most of the water had drained leaving a very thick mud which, while slippery in places, still supported my weight without sinking in 2-3 inches.
By the time I reached Wesser Bald, it was overcast again and pillars of cloud reached from the clouds below to the clouds above. It did not rain, though, until I was comfortably settled here at Nantahala Outdoor Center. Tomorrow is a "zero" day.
March 31, 2001 - Nantahala Outdoor Center
Rest, regroup, laundry, eat, rest, no miles, rest.