Date: 2004-06-06
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap, TN
Miles today: 16.7

The group last night was fun to be with. There were the four guys there, three went to Western Carolina college together and the fourth had worked there. They get together from time to time and hike. The only name I remember is Mike Davis. There was a fellow there with lots of interesting stories about Ft. Bragg. The shelter had a temporary tarp roof and it rained like crazy during the night but it did not leak on us. The Western Carolina guys had funny quotes their wives would say when they returned and told them how difficult the hike had been. Guys - You wouldn't believe how difficult the hike was, climbing those mountains, and hiking in the wind and rain.Wife - Nobody made you do it. It was your choice.Guys - You couldn't believe how difficult the trail was, rocks everywhere and steep climbs that last forever.Wife - I think it is your time to take care of the children.Guys - We had to sleep in those old shelters, tarps for roofs, rain and all, and sleep on the hard wooden floors.Wife - I think the grass needs cutting.There must be a universal wife language out there somewhere. Where do they learn all this stuff?   Anyway, when the morning rolled around it was 40 degrees when we woke up at 6 am. The group fixed breakfast, packed and hit the road. I left at 8 am and started a long day of hiking. It was up to 45 degrees when I left. At 12:30 I had hiked to Cosby Knob Shelter and heard the group from last night taking a break there. It was off the trail about 200 ft. I started to join them for lunch but knew it would take too much time. The trail went up by Mt. Cammerer and offered some outstanding vistas. But it was a tough climb.   The trail down to Davenport Gap was also a horse trail and littered with their droppings making a mess out of the trail. Also, the trail was very rocky. Finally, about 5 PM, I walked out to the road. I started walking to Mountain Momas to spend the night. A car stopped and offered me a ride. It was a mile and a half walk down a gravel road if he had not picked me up. Where the trail comes out at Davenport Gap there is a blacktop road on the left which changes to gravel right in front of you. That is the state line. Asphalt is Tennessee, gravel is North Carolina.    They stop serving cheeseburgers at Mountain Moma's at 5 PM. I was there at 5:20 and she would not fix me a cheeseburger. She did fix a good chicken sandwich with lots of fries.    Tonight, we have a guy named Bamboo in the cabin with me. The young couple from Indiana are tent camping out on the lawn. My clothes have been washed and are now in the dryer. When they are dry I am headed to a much needed shower.   Bamboo and I are sharing the Honeymoon Shack. It is tiny with 4 beds. The owner has attached a cable to the side of the shack and the other end of the cable to a tree or something out on the yard. There is a large German Shepard dog attached to the cable. The dog is named Ginger. Ginger sleeps under the Honeymoon Shack. Many times during the night Ginger wakes up and barks at anything she might see in the dark. She zips up and down the cable and the Honeymoon Shack is like a sounding board. The owner has informed us that all you have to do is get up, go outside the cabin, yell - "Ginger, go back to sleep." This makes for a good nights sleep when you have to get up and yell at Ginger about four times during the night. What an arrangement.    Well, off to sleep now.