Date: 2009-04-30
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: overcast clouds

We got lucky and didn't get any rain last night or today so we've managed to stay dry for a couple days now. It's very nice not having to put on wet socks and clothes first thing in the morning. We woke today to the sounds of traffic on Hwy 143, and birds. Lots and lots of birds. They were going at it since just before the sun came up and no two of them sounded alike. It's very nice to wake up in the morning to birdsong instead of the BLAAH BLAAH BLAAH of an alarm clock. A group of birders walked down the forest road about 8am, binoculars in hand, so I think this section of the Trail is known for its variety of birds. Judging by how loud the birds were this morning, I'm not surprised.On to the rough stuff. The ups and downs today were unbelievable. The Trail had very few switchbacks, so most of the uphills went directly uphill, and then straight down the other side. There were parts going up that were so steep that every step you took would send puffs of dirt and rocks tumbling down the hillside. I used and was thankful for my hiking poles more times today than I ever have been. Without them I would have been using the trees along the Trail to hang on. And then going down the other side would be almost as steep. By the time we got to Cable Gap Shelter for lunch we were both exhausted.A quick note about the Cable Gap Shelter. After yesterday's privy incident we were both a bit hesitant to approach the one here at lunchtime. It was a pleasant surprise to find a nice one here though. It was a little odd in that it didn't have any walls though. This is the first one we've come across that was completely open all around. It had a roof but no walls at all. You get used to "taking care of business" in the open woods, but it's a little weird to be on a toilet seat with nothing around you but trees and the wind blowing on you like that.In addition to my first 360o Poo-View, I had another first today. I saw a snake! And not just any snake, a copperhead. I was walking a few steps behind BigFoot when something shot across the Trail. It moved so fast that I couldn't tell what it was at first. I saw it flash from my right, felt it hit the top of my shoe, then saw the leaves rustle a bit on my left when it landed in the leaves. We stopped and saw that it was a baby copperhead. It was a bit scary, but very cool at the same time.Another cool thing I saw today (and the latter part of yesterday) was wildflowers. We've been seeing quite a few all along the Trail, but today things got crazy. The Trail would be following the side of a hill and the whole thing would be covered in flowers. All the way to the top of the hill on my left, then as far as I could see into the hollow on my right would be a sea of the white and pink blossoms of trillium. And mixed in between were purple irises, tiny white daisy-like flowers, yellow buttercups, and endless other shades and sizes of yellows, pinks, and purples from flowers I can't identify. The air was still a bit still today but when the wind would blow it sent this unbelievable aroma of fresh flowers up the hillside. And this wasn't just one place, hillside after hillside was blooming like this today. And it all had this delicate feel to it; I knew that I'd stumbled into it at just the right time. A few days earlier or later and it wouldn't be like this. It was definitely the highlight of my day.We pushed on to the next shelter (Cable Gap Shelter) before stopping tonight, and have set up the tents in a camping area behind it. It's an older shelter in a creepy, dark, little hollow and there's already been some weird footstep type of noises going on just as the sun went down, so it should be an interesting night. A few showers have fallen so our luck with staying dry may be over tomorrow. I think this has been the hardest day for me so far. All the steep ups and downs have my feet throbbing and I'm exhausted. Oddly though, I don't think I mind the pains much, it feels like I accomplished something big today.