Date: 2003-05-30
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Happy Birthday, Mom!Well, Steve would be proud of me. Having taken the shuttle yesterday from the road to the village and then from the village to the shelter, I missed a mile or so section of the trail. Barbara, too, and she¢d left her walking stick back at the road. We debated awhile, but eventually walked back to get her stick ¢ thus not missing the mile! (Just don¢t tell Steve I missed a section just after Franklin where the Siler Bald Shelter Trail loops around the AT¢¦)We walked back to the shelter via the road. Both ways it was hilly ¢ on both trail and road ¢ and despite a short day yesterday and having no pack on I was winded! And my calves burned. I¢m sure Barbara was wondering. I¢m waiting for the ¢super fitness¢ to kick in¢¦Anyway we made ourselves some breakfast and packed up to go. Barbara left a few minutes before me, and I stopped at the Dam to make a few more phone calls. I watched her cross the Dam as I finished up.It was eleven by the time I was ready to cross. I met a couple walking the other direction and they stopped me with all kinds of questions, even took my picture! I have to admit I don¢t mind that kind of attention¢guess it¢s the lastborn in me!Today the woods were friendly. It was a sunny beautiful day, a brisk breeze blowing, sending shadows dancing across the trail. I felt like a ghost was following me (figuratively, of course ¢ a psychological ghost -- I don¢t believe in the other kind). I think it had something to do with that postcard. It intrigued me how the same hands could produce such a friendly note which just a few short weeks before had typed a rather mean-spirited e-mail. Either way I hope there are no more awaiting me.When I came to a rock outcropping with a beautiful view I stopped and set the ghost free.I was pretty pleased with my pace. Stopped for ¢lunch¢ around four, hoping I didn¢t see any bears! There was a lot of scat on the trail (someone should tell them where the privies are¢¦). Either that or the repeated warnings, ¢Bears are active in this area. Attacks on humans have occurred inflicting serious injuries and death,¢ just heightened my awareness!Stopping to browse through the register at Mollies Ridge I met two very nice guys. One a youth pastor, married, the other a military man presumably single. I was tempted to stay, but still had a couple of hours of daylight and only 2.2 miles to go to the next. So I reminded myself that¢s not why I¢m out here and came on.Good thing, too, because the crowd here at Russell Field was a group of clowns! I haven¢t laughed so hard since I started the trail. It was very enjoyable. Four Georgia men, razzing each other like a sitcom, provided no end to the entertainment. The other three of us ¢ one a 20-year-old college kid, the other Lewis from last night, a 50-year-old college professor ¢ developed a rapport and joined in the razzing! It was fun! And interesting being the only woman in the group. I didn¢t feel any discomfort at all at this fact. We were all in bed early, and the conversation rose and fell till all of us were silent for a while.Suddenly,¢¦¢¦¢¦.¢You want to see a bear? There are a couple out there.¢ I roused myself from half-sleep and fumbled for my glasses. Interestingly, with the darkness and gathering Smoky Mountain mist they didn¢t make much difference! But I did see the bears ¢ or rather, I saw a few bear-shaped forms wandering around the fire pit. I always imagine them larger and noisier, approaching the shelter and trying to get to our packs through the chain link. (Most of the shelters in the Smokies are closed in with a chain link fence across the front. Lewis said, however, that the park is removing this due to the fact that people have been FEEDING the bear through it! Hello! Is this the zoo?!) It reminded me a little of being on safari in Kenya last January. We were all quite cavalier about the fact that there were bears less than 30 feet away. I don¢t think I¢d have felt nearly so secure without the fence between us, although they didn¢t seem interested in us at all. I would have liked to see them more clearly. It was kind of uneventful after all!