Date: 2019-03-24
From: Frosty Mountain summit

To: Justus Creek
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: clear sky

Great weather for my first full day on the trail, and a host of unique characters to enliven the hike. The rising sun wakes me up on Frosty Mountain. I'd heard footsteps walking by the tent at 4am, but it must have been a raccoon. Other than it was silent all night. Hardly even a breeze to break the stillness. The sunrise is diffused by clouds on the horizon. It forms a spreading column of pinks, purples, yellows, and oranges.I slept well, despite the chill 40 degree night. My foam pad and the piece of reflectix I cut to fit under it were very insulating and comfortable. Pulling out the reflectix, it felt warm on top and cold underneath. I pack up and plan to stop at the next shelter to make breakfast. But first I pay it forward by gathering firewood for the next camper. A few birds are chirping as I head toward Black Mountain, and I spy a few isolated violets.At Black Gap Shelter everyone's packing up while I stop to make oatmeal at the picnic table. I meet Bret, a graying guy in a cotton T-shirt, who is adjusting to the mountains after hiking the sandy and flat Florida Trail near his home. The other shelter-dweller, Emma, is a young girl already thinking of quitting her thru hike due to the difficulty of the Approach Trail, and maybe getting off at Springer mountain. I try to encourage her but she seems overwhelmed. A good rule of thumb is never quit on a bad day. Or two. Wait a week and if it's still terrible then you gave it your best.As I exit a runner passes the shelter. At the summit of Springer I catch him. He's an ultrarunner training for a 50K by running the Approach Trail. I get my Springer photo and chat with a dayhiking couple. On the way down the north side I meet a mom starting her thruhike. Her ten year-old daughter is accompanying her up Springer from the parking lot and her parents are standing at the car below.Another mile on I find Enoch cooling his heal in a stream. He's got plantar fasciitis. He hiked 1500 miles of the trail four years ago and is back to try again. He is 80 years old. He plans to hike 15 miles a day, 5 days a week, and spend weekends with his wife who's following in a camper. From his demeanor, I think he will do it. His name comes from the Old Testament story of the man who walked with God and ascended into heaven. I tell him climbing Katahdin will feel a little like that and he smiles.Further on a middle-aged Asian woman named Ladybug is lunching by a spring. She's nervous about crowded shelters and plans to try a less popular tentsite with a more intimate crowd.At Stover Creek Shelter someone's napping in a hammock. I chat with Prospector, a 44-year-old ice fisher and You-Tuber from Wyoming out for a month until his daughter's high school graduation. The hammock stirs and a young bearded guy from Nebraska named Ket (after ketamine) pops out. He's just ambling around a free miles a day and heading home in a week. I head on to Three Forks. Just beyond I catch a plodding hiker who goes by Moon. He's from the Virginia Blue Ridge and does not consider himself a hiker or even a lover of the outdoors. He had one knee replaced recently and is ready to do the other one. But hiking the AT is his dream and he is living it.I feel like I've lost the trail a bit later. No blazes in sight for a while. After scrambling with maps I can't figure it out. Then a minute later I round a bend and I realize all is well when a sign for Long Creek Falls appears. It's a pretty fall whose main drop is about twenty feet but has many more minor cascades. A rock nearby has grafitti carved into it dating back to 1877.Climbing towards Cemetery Flats I run into Matt, a strong-looking guy with gray and white stubble who complains about his 65-pound pack. He's only managed a few miles a day with this behemoth. He can't wait to get to a post office to send home his 20-pound laptop and his bear canister. Also his phone is dead and he has no map or guide. I tell him where the shelter is and the next road crossing. I guess it's a lesson hard-won in his case At Hawk Mountain Shelter I stop for water and wander through a tent city. There must be two dozen tents and it's only 3pm. These are the people who got dropped off at Springer this morning and walked eight miles here. They are all adapting to tent life and the routine chores of camping. Some seem a little flummoxed by their equipment. No one is staying in the shelter. But I chat with a guy named Green Slouch wearing a long green knit cap. There are four dogs wandering around as well, including a huge gray mastiff named Leyla carrying what looks like twenty pounds of dog food in a harness. She belongs to a 1999 thruhiker named Hyper Heidi. I head on, looking to make Justus Creek where there are tent sites and water but hopefully no crowds. But it's another six miles and I have to summit Sassafras and Justus mountains first. I've eaten all my snacks and try to force down water, but I have to drag myself up the steep climbs. I run into Rabid Raccoon taking water out of a very shallow spring. He's a middle-aged guy from Texas whose kids gave him the name. And his wife gave him a cap with a raccoon on it for emphasis.The tough Sassafras climb almost has me stopping at one of the summit tentsites, but once on top I feel better and walk down to Justus Creek, finishing an 18-mile day, 14 of which are officially on the AT. At the creek I tent near two thruhikers on a ledge where we can listen to the rushing waters. We build a fire, cook noodles, and chat for a few hours about everything from trail life to Wittgenstein. Frog is an eclectic guy fascinated with Eastern religions and prone to offbeat and disconnected remarks. He seems to need a girlfriend, something he keeps alluding to. Alex is young and has hiked the first few hundred miles of the AT with a group before. But this time he wants to do it all and make it his own hike. His girlfriend is at home and he won't see her until New Jersey, four months from now. He's a mere 120 pounds and concerned about shrinking below the 104 he hit on his last hike when he got the name Lightweight.It's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow, but it feels a bit warmer this evening. It was a little too warm this afternoon. I was grateful for the cool mountain breezes and what shade the leafless trees could provide.Update: Rain held off. No service at Justus Creek so posting from Ramrock Mountain.