Date: 2003-03-28
From: Franklin, NC

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I took a well deserved rest day. The high miles of the last 2 days and the steep ups and downs had left me with aching feet and a blister on my left big toe.I awakened at 7 this morning but didn't get out of bed until 9. The outfitter didn't open until 10 and I had nowhere to go until then.I dressed, went down to the lobby and got myself a cup of coffee and a bagel.I spent an hour looking around the outfitters and was able to do some food re-supply while I was there. From there I went across the street to Winn Dixie to get some needed supplies. While I was there I met up with Night Fever (as in Saturday Night Fever because of a shirt that he had on a few days ago). He had just arrived from the trail and had decided to stay at the same hotel as me, so we walked back together.I organized my food for the next 3 days, worked on e-mails, and just relaxed.In a few hours Night Fever and I went to the Laundromat, the outfitters, and Mailboxes, Etc.. I had bought too much food and didn't want to carry it, so it was bounced to Nantahala Outdoor Center where I'll be in 3 days. Now I won't have to do much re-supply there on Monday.Lunch had been at Pizza Hut and dinner was a delicious Pecan Mudslide Sundae at the Dairy Queen. It's kinda fun not watching calories.When we returned to the hotel, I signed in to the hiker register that I hadn't seen yesterday. Right before me were Red Rover and Peregrine's names. I hadn't seen these 2 great people since the Walasi Hostel and thought that I might not get to see them again.Just as I was exclaiming to Night Fever that they were in the same hotel, they came around the corner! We greeted each other with big hellos and hugs. "We've been trying to catch you for days, we have your pages", they said. Boy was that music to my ears. I had left a baggie next to a log in Unicoi Gap. I didn't realize it was gone until I had crossed the road and climbed all the way to the top of Rocky Mountain. When I realized what I had done I stood there trying to decide what to do. I knew that I didn't have it in me to get down the mountain and then back up, and I believe that everything happens for a reason, so I moved on. In the bag with my data book pages was a prayer that my Dad had in his wallet when he died, my favorite poem, the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, and the directions for my camera. I would miss my Dad's prayer more than anything else in the bag.As people caught up to me during the day, I asked them if they had seen my pages. I was told that someone had picked them up from the ground and attached them to a sign at the gap, but not knowing they were mine, no-one brought them to me.Now, 6 days later, Red Rover and Peregrine were telling me that they recognized the contents of the bag as mine and had been trying to catch me for days to return them! They also told me that Nathan, whom I had been with at Walasi Hostel and the Blueberry Patch Hostel, had tried to get a ride back to the Gap from Hiawassee on his zero day to try to retrieve my lost baggie.Now, I'm a glass half full kind of gal. I always see the good side of people and circumstances, always looking on the bright side of life; ta da, ta da da da da da. Anyway, this whole thing just made me cry.These people had known me for all of 3 days. I love these guys. When I tell family and friends not to worry about me because the trail community is a close knit, protective bunch of human beings, I mean it!I promised a few people that I would talk about gear and my diet, but I'm bushed and still need to get things together for our shuttle back to the trailhead tomorrow morning at 8am.I'll get to the food and gear on the first slow day I have. I promise.