Date: 2007-04-07
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Allen Gap, N.C. 208, Tenn. 70
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, I take back what I wrote last night. Last night was soooo cold!! We were all in our sleeping bags by at least 7PM. (Toto and I were in ours before 6.) Toto had a pair of gloves on his hands and on his toes he put his mittens. I should have done that because I woke up in the night and would move my toes to make sure they hadn't frozen. From 3:30AM on I was awake at long intervals. At 10:30PM after everyone was asleep we were awakened by a rattling of plastic by a hiker, Drip Dry, that had started from Hot Springs at 7PM and was just getting to the shelter. She is hiking with her standard poodle, Boris. There was 1 space left in the shelter but she opted for the dirt floor in front of the shelter since she had her dog. Everyone was so cold this morning. Some had handwarmers which would have been nice to have. I had to get up at about 7 to go to the privy and when I got back I tried my mittens on my toes. Soon I decided it was time to get up and start moving around and get ready to hike in order to keep warm. Signage had a thermometer on her pack and it read 19 degrees. I pulled the mittens off my feet and started changing into my hiking clothes. When I looked for my mittens I could find only 1. We looked in our sleeping bags, clothes bags, under the shelter patform, and through everything else but no mitten. We must have spent an hour looking for it. Toto let me use one of his over my glove liner. He had his gloves on. It took longer to pack up because it was difficult to do with glove liners and too cold to do it for very long bare-handed. Rockhound had built a fire as he cooks on a fire and so I stopped a few times to warm my hands. By about 9:30 we were finally ready but we were not sure about where we would stop at the end of the day. Someone mentioned that the Thru-hiker Companion book lists a hostel about 5 miles north. Sticks, Toto and I decided we wanted to go there to get out of the weather. Drip Dry, though, was disappointed that pets are not allowed. Up the trail after hiking and slipping in snow on the leaves and hidden roots, Drip Dry said she decided she was going to the hostel anyway. When we got to Allen Gap there was a sign that there was trail magic at a house 300 yards east on the main road. We were headed for the hostel so why not go to this house and get filled up on waffles (which the sign said they would be offering) before going on. So Sticks, Drip Dry, Toto and I headed east. We were greeted by Hercules and Fal (who both hiked the trail in 1999) and as soon as we deposited our packs in a room and took off our boots we were invited to sit down and were asked what we wanted to drink and if we wanted a waffle. Oh, by the way, Sixty was here with her friend, whose trail name is Fabulous. After the waffle was gone, lunch was offered, and guess what? No one refused. So next came pulled pork barbecue sandwich, potato salad, baked beans, a pickle slice, and a jello salad. THEN dessert was offered. Toto had a banana split and a little while later he had warm bread pudding and ice cream. The coffee kept coming and there was lots of coke, juice, and water. (Our water froze during the night so we had not had any this morning except for what we could get thawed this morning near a campfire before it quickly froze again.)      I asked Fal if she knew anything about the hostel we were planning to go to. She said she did not know a lot about it but since it was Easter weekend, if we wanted to stay here we could go to church with them tomorrow, and then they would take us to a Chinese AYCE buffet afterwards before getting back to the trail. It didn't take Sticks, Toto, and I long to decide to stay. Drip Dry, Sixty, and Fabulous, however, decided to go on to the hostel. They had called and Drip Dry was happy to find out that she could take her dog for a charge of only $2. Signage came after a while and ate well but passed up the offer to spend the night. She was planning to go on up the trail since she is planning to to meet a friend in Erwin on Thursday. Tonight is supposed to be even colder than last night so I hope she is OK up on the mountain. Several hikers are here now--Tattoo, The Owl, Dan, Mr. Easy, Mountain Mike (first time meeting him), Rockhound, Deep Sea, and Sonny Boy. We have had dinner, which consisted of homemade beef stew, homemade bread, a fresh fruit cup and dessert of several choices.Hercules and Fal have a beautiful golden-doodle, Heidi. She has enjoyed playing with the hikers. And Toto has enjoyed having another dog to play with.   I found the missing mitten. We had not been here at our wonderful trail angels' home long when I was sitting at the table and I put my hands back behind me and felt a soft lump just below my waist-line. I put my hand down my hiking pants and felt my fleece mitten. I was so happy because I had thought if it was not in my pack it had to be stuck to the top of the shelter on a log rafter. I made an announcement to those at the table that knew I had lost my mitten that I had found it and pulled it out. It had gotten stuck in my pants while I was putting them on while I was in my sleeping bag. We've listened to Sonny Boy and Deep Sea play the banjo and fiddle again tonight. What a treat!! We have all picked out our floor space for our sleep pad and sleeping bag tonight and soon will be going to bed. We will have breakfast at 7:30 tomorrow and leave by 8:30 for church. I think we will all sleep well tonight. Sonny Boy and Deep Sea slept under the sky in their sleeping bags only about 0.2 mile from the shelter last night because they did not know they were so close. I don't know how they survived but we are sure glad they did.