Date: 2005-03-20
From: Cheese Factory site

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: few clouds

3.20.05Day 710:15am The moon last night cast a glowing halo through my tent, asoft firefly glow. I arose early-ish (around 6), but Newbie beat meby at least an hour. Took my time this morning, chatting w/Crash!Bang!, fired up my alcohol stove for a hot breakfast of...wait... guess what... don't tell me... Oatmeal! Hmmm. Imagine that. And still, I was headin' up to face Tray Mountain again by shortlyafter 7. It's already routine, stuffing my life into a compact 35-(or 39-) pound package. Climbing up Tray, I was ascending w/ the sun.The most unbelievable, fantastic, gorgeous views imaginable from thesummit. The newly-arisen sun, highlighting the peaks and valleys,mist slowly dissipating from the low-lying hills. Deep greens fromthe trees, far below. A few lights twinkling in the distance. I felton top of the world. (And, at over 4000ft, I was at least on top ofGeorgia.) What a glorious day!12pm Whew. Tray Mtn might have been a breeze, on fresh legs thismorning, but I was sweatin' bullets by the time I hit the top of KellyKnob. I had a few choice words for that little ascent too. Justenough to get the frustration out of my system. It just seemedinterminable, that climb. No matter where you stood on it, you couldsee about the next 100ft of trail, all of it at a distinct upwardtilt. By the time you traversed that and were able to peer around thebend, what were you treated to but another 100ft of up. And so itwent. And there are so many false summits down here, you neverreally know when you're at the top, until you've already passedit and are headed down. Ah well. C'est la vie. There's always gonnabe one more mountain to climb, until you hit the Big K up in Maine. (And even then, there's still the PCT. And the CDT. And theADT...)Currently, I'm sitting on a (surprisingly) comfortable log in DeepGap, waiting for someone to catch up. James and Jake and Wyatttwisted my arm this morning (Yeah, like it took a lot of convincing)w/ talk of going in to Hiawassee today, and zeroing tomorrow. Ahhh,fond memories of zero days in trail towns... Actually, last year Ididn't enter Hiawassee -- sandwiched b/t Helen and Franklin, I figuredI could forego one town. But, Dicks Creek Gap is only 4 milesaway, and it's only noon. And this is a nice, sunny spot, a heftybreeze is wicking away the nasty sweat. (But not, unfortunately, thenasty smell. Amazing, how quickly you become thoroughly disgusting. And how quickly you become inured to it.) I've been hikingsporadically throughout the days, for random, elevation-dependentintervals, w/ various folks: Longhaul, Red Hat, Hopeful, Skylark,Newbie. I just met Butterfly Moon, on that horrid climb, as well asRaz, back at Tray Mtn Shelter. Mothergoose was at Tray as well, andshe seemed in cheerier spirits than when I last heard of her. So far,the only trail departee that I've meet (and am aware of) is JustPlayin' Jane, which is a shame, b/c she's a sweetheart.6:20pm Yep, I'm in Hiawassee, at the Holiday Inn Express. Paradingabout in my oh-so-fashionable rain gear, as my laundry is washed. And, oh boy, did it need it. The hotel room had a definite aroma toit, what w/ 5 hikers' dirty, sweaty, smelly, pungent clothes.9:30pm Back from the AYCE buffet at Shoney's, (more than)satisfyingly full. More like overly stuffed, like a turkey onThanksgiving. But it was soooo yummy. A delectable, delicious salad,full of greens, fresh veggies. Fruit. Cooked veggies. Soup. Chocolate pudding for dessert. And sweet tea. Lots and lots of sweettea. Train Angel Lori shuttled us to the restaurant -- me, Amanda,James, Wyatt, and Jake. 4 of us squished in the backseat. And wewere a lot more squished after our stomachs were distended w/food. Plus, Bonnie, her border collie, decided to join the backseatparty on the ride back. Great fun. My first hitch of the hike wasn'tquite as memorable as last year. When I arrived at Dick's Creek Gap,hikers were strewn about, littering the parking lot. Amanda, Senator,and Snuffalufagous got a lift from a former thru-hiker passingthrough. Wyatt, James, Jake, and I hopped in the bed of a pick-uptruck of a local. The 10-mile drive to town aired us out quite well. Thankfully. Haven't really had a chance to explore Hiawassee yet, butfrom our drive-thru tour from the pick-up bed, all I saw was a giantstrip of highway.