Date: 2006-04-09
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Big Springs Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: clear sky

Up to a really cold morning and my first observation is how the condensation inside my tent from breathing all night has turned into ice. It pretty much looks like a heavy frost has settled inside my tent. This made breakfast and packing go quick as I was eager to start hiking so I could warm up. I figured the quicker I could get moving the quicker I would get warm and that was my only goal. On the way out of camp I did take a minute to chat with the boys in the scout troop but then quickly got moving. Shortly after getting started my body temperature leveled out where it should be and I started thinking heavily about a few couple of things. While hiking the mind is usually clear and it is a great time to think. I must have trail fever because one of the thoughts I had was about opening a hostel up somewhere along the trial. Nothing more than a thought at this point, but it would be a fun lifestyle and would be very rewarding helping hikers fulfill their dreams of becoming a thru-hiker. I am sure I will revisit this topic later. Salt and Pepper were right behind me and we ended up stopping at Standing Indian Shelter for our first break today. There we met up with a guy by the name of Tater. Come to find out he is the one that put Salt and Pepper up for the night while they were in Hiawassee. Salt was telling me about a great guy that he had met in town that had invited him to stay at his cabin. Tater thru hiked the AT just a couple of years ago and now helps out hikers as they come through town. Today he came out to the shelter to do a little trial magic. We also met up with a girl at Standing Indian that goes by the trail name Silver Foot. She is a rather talkative little thing but seems to have her mind set on Katahdin. Her name fits pretty well due to the duct tape covering the blisters on her mud-coated feet. That¢s what happens when you hike in sandals. After our break we started the hike up Standing Bear Mountain with Silver Foot at our heels talking and talking and talking. She acts as if we are the first people she has seen since leaving Springer Mountain. She hiked with us up to the crest of Standing Bear. At the summit there were great views all the way back to Hiawassee Lake that overlooked sections of the trail from the past few days. Feeling pretty good at this point Salt and I decided to push on for our largest day yet. Albert Mountain wasn¢t to far away and we had rather hike it today instead of having to first thing in the morning. The climb up was defiantly a challenge, but the summit revealed great views. There is an old fire tower up there that is still open to climb and increases the views even more. When you get to the top of the tower there is nothing but awesome 360-degree views all around. After the excitement and a couple of pictures we continued the short hike into Big Spring Shelter for the night. It was nearly 6:00pm when we got there and it had already starting to get dark. While setting up camp a group that we have named the Three Amigos stopped in for a few minutes. They were all covered in duct tape that was patching up scabs, but they decided to hike on a little further into the night. You just never know with those guys what there are going to do. Maybe we will see them in the future. Just after the Three Amigos left, Jane and Baro arrived at the shelter and joined us for another cold night of camping on the trail. Tonight at Big Spring Shelter: Salt, Pepper, Silverfoot, Jane, Baro, Myself, and 3 other section hikers.