Date: 2006-09-20
To: russell field shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: clear sky

======2003====== monday, march 10, day 17J.C¢¦. ¢the Logos¢¢¦..what¢s the pinpoint significance of a ¢trail name¢ like THAT!....why did john the apostle recognize this peasant Carpenter from palestine as ¢the Word¢?....i been studyin¢ on that today¢¦¢¦. ¢the Word¢¢¦.what¢s the connotation?....authority?....truth?.....reality?.....communication?i asked (in the register) today, ¢what is the ultimate communication?¢¢¦.my own answer came slowly as i hiked along ¢chewin¢¢ on this whole ¢word¢ thing¢¦.i thought, ¢really¢¦.if you could BECOME the other person, if you could LIVE in his boots awhile, then that would BE the absolute perfect communication¢¦¢ and then it hit me¢¦.THAT¢s what Jesus did!.....God actually communicated Himself to US in our ¢shoes¢¢¦¢¦He SPOKE to us in human flesh¢¦.he put reality into words when He put Himself into historical humanity¢¦.He ¢wrote¢ his omnipotent love on the terrestrial pages of eternal life¢¦.He ¢tattoo-ed¢ the message in His hands, His feet, His side¢¦¢¦.THAT¢s the ultimate communication!.........(i¢ll hafta think about this some more later)¢¦.we¢re stayin¢ in a shelter again tonight¢¦..there are two of the cutest young scouts here with their dads¢¦..they¢re havin¢ the best time building fires!...(even got one going here in the fireplace*¢¦..YEA!)¢¦.there¢s also a cardiologist from knoxville who has a volunteer ministry on the side there to homeless people (he¢s gonna get a good taste tonight of what it really feels like to be out in the cold!)¢¦¢¦and now, some more kids have arrived¢¦.musicians! (one from chattanooga!)¢¦. so it¢s a full house¢¦¢¦but everyone¢s cheerful despite the cold!....we saw pilgrim, lucky, sparrow and ?¢¦(uh oh¢¦i forgot his name already!)¢¦they caught up to us early risers even though they took time to climb the shuckstack firetower *the day was pretty hard¢¦..we got started on the smokies,though!...woo hoo!....it¢s been lots of up and down¢¦up and down¢¦..there was one really neat, exposed , rocky area goin¢ up shuckstack that had the most beautiful little red-leaved saxifrage nestled in the rocks!...very pretty!...nice views, too!....and then there¢s the place where we took a shower tonite!....it couldn¢t have been prettier¢¦.it¢s a little, open sort of knoll way up above the spring here which killeen described as a ¢garden¢¢¦it does have all the elements: grasses, moss, lichen, shrubs¢¦we were careful to ¢tread lightly¢ as we bathed in the warm sunshine¢¦.glad to be clean and snuggled in the shelter now, though¢¦.because as that good warm sun has begun to dip down off the side of this mountain, it has gotten ¢brrrrshy¢!....but our scouts have got a good fire going on the hearth in this cozy little stone ¢cabin¢ (God bless the BSA!)¢¦¢¦.the fire is crackling a warm glow over smiling, contented faces¢¦..folks are pleasantly chatting trail tales¢¦¢¦this is the life!.....(if the mice don¢t show up!)======2006====== tuesday, february 28, day 17¢¦(14.7 from russell field to siler¢s bald)we are EXHAUSTED!.....it took us 9 12 hours to do this section!....so slow!.... but in defense of two old pitifully tired hikers, we did have lots of snow to trudge through and many steep ups and downs¢¦..we are REALLY glad to finally be here at siler¢s bald shelter¢¦..it may rain tomorrow and the day should be pretty much as difficult as today, so we¢re prayin¢ for an extra dose of God¢s grace!*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS------*fireplaces¢¦¢¦ a few shelters have them, but they tend to smoke more than keep you warm¢¦.what the heck!.. ¢eau de firepit¢ is actually quite the desirable essence for hikers who usually waft worse than the smell of ashes!*the firetower¢¦.we rarely took ¢side trips¢ in ¢03¢¦.it was all we could do then just to get our miles in each day¢¦..paw-ee and i were almost always the first to get up and out in the mornings and the last to arrive in the evenings¢¦..but what a nice way to meet folks¢¦.as they happily pass you by!*mice¢¦..we fortunately never experienced nearly the horrors we¢d heard tales of concerning these rowdy little rodents¢¦..perhaps beginning a hike early gets you ahead of the critters who eventually wise up to the fact that ¢hikers¢ spell F-O-O-D!...(that¢s ¢spell¢.¢¦NOT ¢spill¢, hopefully¢¦..please be careful not to leave garbage about or SPILL your food¢¦.it only SPELLS fitful nights fending off mice who¢ve gotta feed themselves and their children!)