Date: 2005-04-25
From: North of Standing Bear

To: Old Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Well the rain held off thankfully and I was up and gone early. I stopped at the trail to Snowbird Mountain for a quick break, take a few notes and reflect. I expected to run into GRUMP but, unbeknownst to me and as I wrote earlier, he moved on all night long. At 9 am I saw my first Bear. I heard a lot of crashing through the brush up to now that I thought was a bear however, this one was easy to see. My Bear Bell I carried evidently was working fine up to this point. He heard me at the last minute and broke running hard. I could see the top of his head as he went over the next ridge line. I gave him my friend Jimbo's Alabama yell, "Git on outta here ya". My voice only comforted me, the Bear new where he was going. I figured it was a male due to it's size and the fact there was no Cub. OB told me earlier to get rid of it when I get to the Shenandoah's because there the bell just calls them in for dinner (so I mailed it home in Damascus).    I was low on fuel so I cooked for the first time over an open fire below Max Patch. Cooking this way does make the food taste better in my opinion. I started a fire using small wood and while it was burning down, I gathered two larger sticks and soaked them in a stream. When to fire burned flat I put the coals between the two soaked sticks. I placed them just far enough apart to balance my cooking pot and the meal was heated soon enough. All in all a little bit of extra clean up on the outside of the pot but, no biggee. While cooking and what became a habit, I hung my Bear Line from tree to tree and let a few items soak up the sun and dry. I air dried my sleeping bag as well. I traveled up and over Max Patch which poved to be a windy but beautiful day. It was a clear day and I could see the Smoky Mountains to the South. What a great day compared to the day before. The trail after Max Patch was great to hike along. I was able to stretch out the pace and move all the way to the "Old Roaring Fork Shelter". This shelter was to be torn down soon so it was nice to sleep in it before it went away.      There I met two SOBO's (South Bounders), Humdinger and Talula. They fed me a pasta called "Peace Pasta" and it was great. I picked some up at the Outfitters in Hot Springs when I was there. Costly but a great tasting Mac and Cheese meal. Mack and Cheese was not easy to cook on the Denatured Alcohol stove. I eventually used GRUMP's technique of pre-soaking my meal first. This way all you have to do is heat it, not cook it. Makes sense no matter what type of stove you have, a way to conserve fuel. I also met a hiker by the name of Dandy, who came in just after dark. Dandy was a NOBO (North Bounder). A nice person who told me he lost 125 pounds before he started the trail. I asked how did he feel and he said that the cold weather effects him more, less insulation. We had a good laugh at that.    The log book there showed that GRUMP had passed through earlier in the day confirming he went over Max Patch in the dark (again, what a hard dude). Batch came in just after dark as well, he made a comment after the topic of his age came up. He wished people wouldn't make such a big deal at the fact that he was 83. I told him it was a big deal, not many people do the trail in the first place and just how many 83 year olds have the capability to even try. He said he was always lucky when it comes to the physical ability to do things like this. I told him it was more as if he were blessed.