Date: 2005-05-04
From: Erwin - Chestoa Bridge

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: scattered clouds

So now, I¢m reaping the advantages of staying at this motel. After a good night¢s sleep, Keith deposited me on the Trail by 7:20 (I had to roust him this morning). So already, I¢m revising my schedule ¢ perhaps I can get beyond Beauty Spot today, perhaps to the Cherry Gap Shelter. And perhaps I can get to Damascus two days earlier than originally planned which in turn allows me to drive ahead, hike the 26 miles further north in Virginia that I missed on account of the early March snowstorm, and make it back to Damascus for Trail Days. We¢ll see.The sky was still predominantly cloudy in my first 3 flat miles from the Chestoa Bridge. Nice walking among huge hemlocks but also poison ivy in stretches. Hey, I¢m eager for the ascent ¢ I know I have to do it ¢ bring it on!Eventually I got my wish ¢ up, up, and up ¢ but rewarding as the clouds parted portending a gorgeous day with each step bringing me closer to the coolness of the ridgeline. Less than 2 hours from the start, I reached Curly Maple Shelter and met Tomato Head, Strider, and Lightfoot who spent last night there and like me, are heading to Cherry Gap Shelter. The remainder of the morning was stupendous ¢ walking generally along slabs past carpets of wildflowers, not much strenuous ascending. Emerging in the open rolling summit, I paused for a while at Beauty Spot where a USFS ranger asked us if we had seen any fires. No, not here. I could stay at Beauty Spot all day and like Big Bald, could envision camping here. Beauty Spot on a day like today is one of the treasures of the entire AT.Next came Unaka Mountain. Northern Harrier had told me how densely wooded the summit was but I enjoyed the ascent more than I had thought possible, mostly because the south side was festooned with wildflowers including spring beauties in their colorful glory and bluets. Like trillium, the spring beauties all seem to bear their own unique color combination of pink and white. Then the summit featured the lovely sight and fragrance of balsam firs in addition to the ubiquitous rhododendron and hemlocks. Another hiker I hadn¢t met yet ¢ Hot Crotch ¢ caught up with me at the summit ¢ his first day back after 2 days of being laid up in Erwin. I won¢t go into how he obtained his Trail Name here! On the descent, we met Wookie and Cold Feet whose presence at this point was no small miracle considering they had been in a car accident just last Saturday. So I¢m at Cherry Gap Shelter before 4:00 along with Tomato Head, Strider, and Lightfoot. We¢re now into a string of not-too-impressive shelters although the Tennessee Eastman Club does a good job of blazing and trail building. The extremely low roof made for all of us ¢ especially me ¢ banging our heads. Hot Crotch wanted to move on but the 8 mile distance to the next shelter persuaded him to stay. Sam came by but moved on because as he said, the weather was so perfect he wanted to keep hiking.And I felt that way too. I didn¢t want the day to end. In fact, since my second day, I¢ve had this run of fine spring weather. I indeed feel lucky and blessed to enjoy this hike at such a peak time of year with the wildflowers and spring birds strutting their stuff.And finally, a sight I¢m getting accustomed to occurred as Walt tromped in with his 70 pound pack, freshly resupplied including a new (and cheap) watch procured from a pawnshop. ¢I had to hike all the way from the Holiday Inn Express ¢ no one would pick me up. That¢s over 18 miles today¢ ¢Well, you should have stayed at the Best Southern where Turbo Joe and I stayed.¢ ¢Yeah, but the HI Express gives hikers a free pint of Ben & Jerry¢s¢ Hmm, well I¢m still glad for staying at the Best Southern.Shakedown stopped by. How did he get behind me? He took one zero day off to visit his mother in Asheville. He pitched his tent. And Grits blessed us with his presence, pitching his tent near Walt. Talking to them this evening had me in stitches from their country humor. ¢Are you on Trail Journals.com?¢ ¢Hell, we just got telephone service last week in South Georgia.¢ And so it went.During today¢s hike, I thought about Linda Combs whom I worked for during her service as the Chief Financial Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency. As I was about to retire, she called me into her office for a chat. Knowing I liked backpacking, she told me about Beauty Spot and how her husband had proposed to her on the summit 34 years ago. She was one of the finer political appointees I¢ve worked for so today¢s journal is dedicated to her.