Date: 2014-03-24
From: Dicks Creek Gap

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a low mileage day. After the driver of the shuttle scraped the ice off the car windows he drove Egret and I to Dicks Creek Gap and we started hiking at 9:00 AM after a wonderful big breakfast at the Top of Georgia Hostel. Egret was the only hiker to leave that early; all the other hikers decided to sleep in or take a zero day. Egret is a 19 year old girl from Ann Arbor, MI who is hiking alone and is tough as nails. At 110 pounds dripping wet she started with the military guys, Hiking for Heroes, but found their pace too slow. She also confided that she wanted to hike with me because she was tired of the young guys at the hostel. I guess I'm either harmless or fatherly. I hope it was the latter but probably the first. The weather was cool but sunny. The trail changed some today with less rocks and more soil underfoot. The ever-present clacking sound of our trekking poles was still present but not as sharp for half the day. The mountains are also changing. While still a winter gray, at times tiny patches of green appeared on the mountain sides. These patches were groves of pine trees and rhododendrons. They are also taller. Muskrat Creek Shelter is at 4,580 feet. While we both hiked at our own pace, she would pull away on the downhills and then I closed the gap on uphills. We rubber banded all morning, stretching and snapping back.As the morning progressed two very bazarre guys passed us. One was Jimaji and the other Sandals. Sandals hiked with no shoes. These two guys had enough pot to make it to Maine without resupplying. We would pass them while they were taking a weed break, then they would race ahead of us only for us to pass them again later while they were taking a smoke break. Jimaji (see picture) named me Rastafarian Weed (RW).At mile 78.5 there were a dozen hikers, including Jimaji smoking his weed, at the North Carolina border. At 1:15 PM today I crossed into NC. Egret stayed behind and it was the last time we hiked together. I hiked the rest of the day alone, but was frequently being passed by the younger, faster hikers, including Jimaji. The first few miles of NC were tough, but then it flattened out as I hiked the ridge line. At 3:30 I stopped at Muskrat Creek Shelter. The location was packed with tents, at least 30 people were there. I considered going on to the next shelter, but decided this night may be interesting. Egret and many of the hikers I saw at the Hostel arrived later and set up their tents. As the night progressed, a Yogi ( a trail bum, hobo, homeless person) showed up and proved to be entertaining. No one asked his name and he didn't say.The night got cold fast and the talk around the fire was of snow. I decided that if the weather was bad in the morning, I would hike past my intended destination and get to Franklin as soon as possible.That evening I hiked the half mile to a cliff and had a spectacular view of the mountains. I wish I knew which ones I hiked up and over because they looked intimidating. As I hiked to the cliff, I zeroed at Gooch Gap knowing that if my gear failed I would be able to bail off the trail safely the same night.