Date: 2008-04-13
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

The skies were filling with high, wispy clouds, and the temps had dropped into the high 40's as we walked to the Smoky Mtn. Diner for a back-to-trail feed. I like grits with butter and a little syrup, and the biscuits there were huge and light, so of course I had one of those, with some scrambled eggs and a sausage patty, and the inevitable couple cups of coffee...    Restaurant food takes on an almost mystical quality after eating high carb instant food for days and days. I like to think of it as a perspective building experience, introducing a higher value into the more mundane things in life. Our waitress had on a Tweety Bird T-shirt, and bantered with us as if she'd known us all her life. In fact, she started to jot down our orders before she even spoke to us, and she had the orders right, just from yesterday's visit.   V8 and Bananas and I headed out and up the street with 6 days and 7 nights' food on board, to the trail head that went from the sidewalk to a rocky little path at the end of the bridge just outside the hot springs area itself.   I regret not getting some time in the hot springs, but it was a very busy weekend and I could not get through on the phone, despite several attempts.   Immediately we began to climb, an experience that was enhanced by the heaviest packs we had yet carried. We saw Cannibal and partner en route, and commiserated over the steep start.    Digging into a long uphill chunk of trail throws me into some predictable thoughts: "Gee, I'm not liking the looks of this. Then don't look at it! OK, then, I'll just look at what's right in front of my feet. [Quick glance up ahead] Holy Smokes! I can't do that! Yeah, well, guess what. We're doing it. Or, in the pithy words of the Gatlinburg outfitter, "Suck it up!"   Sometimes its so steep that I have to sort of shimmy up sideways, especially when its a leaf strewn dirt and stone melange.    Leaden skies produced some snow and faint sleet all day, and some climbs were through some spectacular pine forests. The scent of pine can take the edge off of almost any suffering, and was a solace that day.   11 miles and we came to the shelter area. It took some doing to find flat tent space, up on an exposed ridge with a few other hearty souls. Through the night we heard the ticking of freezing rain and snow against the tent wall. Only a single wall design, the Double Rainbow held its own valiantly, and we slept quite well despite the unseasonable clatter around us.   We had a little cook-a-thon at supper, huddled on the ground beside the small shelter. We were trying to protect our stoves and hands from the wind, and to get the meals fixed as fast as possible. I quickly boiled some water and threw in a pack of mashed potatoes, a fast and filling meal, especially with a cheese stick chopped into it. I made a quick cup of hot cider mix and called it a night.   Temperatures were dropping, but the precipitation did not amount to much in the end, despite the consistent fall of flakes, flurries and fine grained hail. I was relieved to wake up to much kinder conditions than I expected. Marcia JamrogAuntie Mame