Date: 2015-04-22
From: Beech Gap

To: Long Branch Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

2086.7 miles to go.Crossed the 100-mile mark today. Passing LOTS of rhododendrons here in NC, sometimes it's like walking through a tunnel. As you approach them, they almost look like a pathway into another world, which I guess the trail kind of is.Stopped at Carter Gap Shelter for a break and played medic for Pipi, who had rolled her ankle that morning. The first time she saw me I was wearing scrubs at the hostel, so she has taken to calling me Doc. After that I decided I had earned a snack (a clementine). I peeled it with my knife, then jabbed the knife into the log/bench point first. Alternating between the juicy clementine and swigs of cold, clear spring water was fantastic ... right up until my water bag tore open. I've been using one of those collapsible bags, I had just recently sent my camelback out because I really don't carry water with me. We pass so many water sources that I just fill up when crossing a stream or spring that looks good. Anyway, just a day or two ago I had thought that a spare bag might be a good idea, and here I was, two days from town and no bag, and no spare. Luckily for me, one of Pipi's group had an extra water bottle they were willing to part with. I'm glad I didn't have to chose between being thirsty for the next 20 miles into town, or taking my chances with unfiltered water.Later on, on the ridge above Betty Creek Gap, there was another magnificent vista right in the middle of a long tunnel of rhododendrons. After soaking it in for a minute, I headed out ... and almost immediately came across a copperhead on the trail. He was actually in the process of eating a salamander - it was quite rude of me to interrupt his lunch. After a moment of cautiously eyeing each other, we both kind of edged around each other and I kept on hiking.At Betty Creek Gap, I filled up my water bottle and sat down to enjoy my last clementine. I felt in my pocket for my knife - it wasn't there. I immediately had a vision of it sticking, point first, in the log/bench back at Carter Gap Shelter! Boy, did I feel like a fool; with all of the excitement of twisted ankles and broken water bags, I had walked off and left if. I checked the map: 3.7 miles back, 7.4 round trip ... some uphill and down, but luckily not very steep. It was early enough in the day that I had time to go back and get it. Ultimately, I decided to go back and get it because it was a gift from a friend, and I wasn't willing to part with it that easily. First, I asked both groups who were there, just to make sure nobody had picked it up - nobody had. Pipi and her group were staying there for the night, so I stashed my pack with them, carried just my water bottle and filter, and set off at a trot. It took about 2.5 hours, but that's a $100 Benchmade we're talking about! Sure enough, it was right where I had left it.I got back to Pipi and Co., and decided to press on. It was about 5 in the evening by now, but I really wanted to sleep in the Fire Tower on Albert Mountain if it was open, and it was only a little over two mile away. Only two miles .... but the steepest two miles I have seen on the trail yet. I'm talking "lean forward, grab a tree root or rock on the slope in front of you, and pull yourself up" kind of steep. But man, was the view worth it - I felt like I could see forever up there. Unfortunately, the Fire Tower was locked up tight, and I didn't feel like Breaking and Entering fit in with the whole "Leave No Trace" philosophy. The wind was HOWLING across the top of Albert Mountain, and I saw storm clouds that looked like they were headed dangerously close, so I decided to camp somewhere else.By this point it was getting really late in the evening, and I was racing the sun down into the next gap. I moved so fast I snuck up on a large doe, who spooked and bolted off across the ridge, white tail waving. I made it to Long Branch Shelter just as the sun dipped behind the ridge line, and got my tarp set up before the rain blew in. It was so windy and cold, I put on everything but my rain gear. I spread the rain gear in the hammock so I could have one more layer of insulation to sleep on. Then I stuck my feet inside my quilt, and then put all of that inside my empty backpack, which came up to my knees. Once I was all settled in, I was warm enough, and the the thunderstorm raging didn't bother me - not even the huge lightning strike that cracked directly above me, lighting up the inside of my hammock, even thru my tarp!