Date: 2006-04-27
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter, NC

To: Whistling Gap Campsite, TN
Miles today: 13.4

Day: 41Date: 4/27/06Start: Hogback Mountain Shelter, NCWeather: Foggy morning, sunshine and very cool for most of the dayFinish: Whistling Gap Campsite, TNMiles: 13.4Cumulative A.T. Miles: 325.2Branch: Yesterday Ranger Dog said, "Pack light, cold all night". Last night we changed the saying to "pack light, wet all night". Our two-person tent only weighs 2.5 pounds, but last night after setting up the wet tent, we needed to use our rain gear on top of our sleeping bags to try to combat the spray from the rain that poured all night long. When we woke up this morning, it was chilly and foggy, so we took our time getting going.Within 2 miles, the wind had blown away most of the fog and the long awaited sunshine was coming through the clouds.Clay: We have a number of gear items that have died or are dying after 300 miles of hiking: (1) 2 Platypus bladders (hole in each), (2) 1 Camelback bladder (unrepairable leak), (3) my 6 oz. blow-up pillow (tried to patch leak), (4) my shoes have over 500 trail miles on them and the tread is literally falling off, (5) the tent is not keeping out water like it used to, (6) the shoulder strap on my ULA backpack is coming apart at the seams. That's a lot of repair and replacement!Passing over I-26 today, we walked through our friend's property that he previously owned on the A.T. It was beautiful. Today's hiking highlight was crossing over Big Bald--about 5500' high . With the 360 degree views it offered, the payoff for this difficult mountain was astounding. After hiking over Big Bald, we hiked to the shelter by 3 PM. Model T, Ranger Dawg, and Misfit were there drying their gear. So, we thought that we should dry our gear too and hang out with these fellows. We spent two hours here and we ate our dinner. Blazer, Jaguar the Wildcat, Branch and I decided to move up the trail 3 more miles. This would give us a mere 13 mile day to get into Erwin, TN tomorrow. Camping with these guys was great. We built a fire, sat around it and talked for a while. All of us are from GA and all of us are reading Christian books. Blazer is reading a short, dense booklet by philosopher and theologian Bill Craig that he got from us. Jaguar is reading _The Lotus and the Cross_ by Ravi Zacharias. He is wanting to compare Buddhism with Christianity. We talked about this for a short while before we all went to bed. Although, maybe, one could compare parts of Matthew 6 to Buddhist thought, the two religions are fundamentally different. The nature of "self" is very different between the religions. In Buddhist thought, the "self" is not real and we are to be absorbed into the collective consciousness. In Christian thought, the self is real, conscious, distinct from God, and to be denied in a way in which we completely devote ourselves from God. Buddhism also differs from Christianity when it come to the problem of evil. Buddhism denies that evil is real. Whereas, Christianity does not.It was a great night hanging out with these amicable fellows. The fire was warm and so were the kind and fun words around the fire.Big day tomorrow. Branch is fast asleep. I will join her in the Alpha state soon. Goodnight.