Date: 2012-04-22
From: Standing Bear Hostel, Hartford, TN

To: Standing Bear Hostel, Hartford, TN Slackpacking
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: moderate rain

Curtis gave two of us a shuttle ride to Lemon Gap, about 20 miles away. We decided to ¢slack pack¢ southbound, back to the Standing Bear Hostel. Slack packing is when you take in your pack only the essentials, primarily some food and water and perhaps an emergency blanket and rain coat. We got a late start, so we had to hike as quickly as possible. I met more people including V1, Star Gazer, Snickers, Ivy, and Prada. I ran into some people I hadn¢t seen in several days and it was good to see them again. We hoped to be lucky enough to arrive back at the hostel by 8:00 p.m., even though perhaps the last bit of the hike might need to be done wearing our headlights, but the weather got worse as the day went on. It started raining, rained harder, the wind blew, and it got much colder. The Trail became a sloppy, gooey mess and it was hard to stand up, much less maneuver the very steep inclines and declines. We got to Max Patch Bald, a huge grassy area on top of a mountain. Balds are unusual places that are totally open. This one was probably 800-900 acres of grass. They had indeed baled some of the grass to use possibly for feeding livestock. By the time we arrived it was blowing very hard and the rain was stinging our faces, and even though we were walking uphill, it felt like we were walking sideways. It was also so foggy I couldn¢t see a thing and couldn¢t truly appreciate the Bald, but what I could see of it was very beautiful. My clothes were totally soaking wet and it was very cold, and I felt like hypothermia was just one step behind me. I knew I had to keep moving or things could get serious. If I were to fall and become injured and unable to move, then things could get very bad. After 11-12 miles we decided to get off the Trail and find a way back to Standing Bear Hostel. We hiked down a road about 2-3 miles where there were no houses or other cars inside this national forest. As soon as we exited the forest we saw a truck driven by Chuck Bishop, an IBM employee from South Carolina. He very graciously picked us up and it felt so good to get into his warm truck as we were as cold as heck. Mr. Bishop is a true Trail Angel. He was so kind that he took us right to the door of Standing Bear Hostel, rescuing us from what could have been a very serious situation as the two of us were very, very cold. He was so generous, even to the point that when he let us out, five other guys who wanted to go to Asheville asked him for a ride and he graciously gave them one. His truck was again filled with hikers heading to Asheville looking for a warm, dry place to stay. I told him he is exactly what Trail Angels are all about. He had never heard that term, but he truly did save the day for us!As soon as I got to the hostel I put on the only dry clothes I had, which included a pair of swimming trunks, a raincoat, one pair of socks and my camp shoes. I was too tired to wash my wet clothes, so just put them in the dryer so I would have dry clothes to put on.When I get the chance to go on the Internet, I do read the comments people make on my journal. I appreciate each and every nice and encouraging comment from people I know, as well as from people I have never met, and I am very touched by them. They make this journey an even more valuable experience.