Date: 2007-04-06
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: broken clouds

So far, my AT hike has been a study of my body's physical capacity under conditions of extreme sleep deprivation. First off, it seems that almost every man on this trail snores, and loudly. Each night that I have slept in a shelter or a hostel, I have been kept awake by the horrible sound of snoring. Apparently I have the wonderful good fortune of being engaged to the one man in America who doesn't snore. I think there should be a hiking ethic that people who know they snore choose not to sleep in shelters, but sadly this is not the case.In the past few days, the weather has turned cold. Last night the cold (on top of the snoring) kept me awake all night. Although my sleeping bag is rated to 15 or 20 degrees, I use only half a sleeping pad to cut down on weight and save space. So my legs lay directly on the drafty floor of the shelter, through which icy winds gusted all night. The only way to be warm was to curl up completely into a fetal position so that my whole body was on the pad, but of course it was too uncomfortable to sleep that way.Finally, around 4:30 or 5 a.m., I had had enough, and packed up my things as quietly as I could. I set off in the cold and dark; too cold even to put in my contact lenses, I stumbled along blindly for the first few miles before I warmed up enough to put them in. I watched a lovely red sunrise from the top of Standing Indian Mountain. After 9 or 10 miles, I stopped to have breakfast at a sunny ridgetop overlook with stunning views to the east. The AT has certainly changed this (mid)westerner's idea of what the eastern US is like. At some point, I passed a deposit of human poop directly on the trail. I might have given my fellow hikers the benefit of the doubt and assumed it was some other form of poop, but for the soiled wad of toilet paper that lay next to it. Some people don't deserve to be on this trail.Later, I saw fresh bear scat on the trail. This was much less disgusting than human poop, but did encourage me to hike more loudly.Sometime midmorning, I was closing the gap between myself and 3 other hikers. They were about 50 hards ahead of me when they all started whooping and shouting, although I couldn't tell why. When I came up behind the last man, I startled him so much that he almost jumped out of his skin. They had been shouting because they had seen two small bear cubs right off the trail and were warning Mama Bear of their presence. I had walked right by the cubs without seeing them. I was sorry to have missed them, but not sorry enough to go back and risk a run-in with an angry mother bear myself.I finally met a hiker today, Trail Blaze, who hikes faster than I do. I followed him up Mt. Albert and we chatted a bit before he left me in the dust.Mt. Albert was quite something. The climb up it was by far the steepest we've done yet, and was hardly recognizable as a trail except for the white blazes. On top of the mountain was a fire tower which afforded us 360 degree views of mountains in all diretions. It was incredible, well worth the climb, and I was very grateful that it was a clear day. Shortly after descending Mt. Albert, I passed the 100 mile mark. That felt good!The last 3 miles of the day were steep and miserable because my feet and I were so tired. By 3 p.m. I reached Winding Stair Gap, having hiked 23.5 miles on no sleep. I borrowed a phone from a hiker named Dirty and called the wonderful Ron Haven at the Sapphire Hotel for a ride into Franklin. I took a room to myself, enjoyed a long hot bath, and then walked down the block for a delicious meal of Mexican food.Tomorrow I will take my first zero day to give my foot a chance to heal. And best of all, Carter is coming to see me! I miss him like crazy, and can't wait to see him. Now it's time for a nice, long, warm, comfortable night's sleep, with no snoring!!