Date: 2011-04-14
From: Rich Mountain Fire Tower

To: Near Jones Meadow
Miles today: 13.5

Highlight of the day is trail magic and it wasn't even the weekend, more on that later.So we woke up in the firetower this morning to some stiff cold winds. Hard to pack when freezing, eventually ate and then packed and headed down to meet the others at the campsite below where we finished packing and such. Hit the trail about 7:45 and jogged the first 50 ft to warm up. Got much better as I went but then reached the next shelter after an hour where I stopped for a break. Got really cold again and wanted to use the privy while I had a chance, waited around 20 minutes for a guy to get out and finally said forget it and moved on. Was told it was another 5-10 minutes before he got out after I left. A little later I made it to Allen Gap where there was a sign for trail magic. John and Jodie Nelson aka Hercules and Fal '99 live 350 yards down the road and are hosting an amazing meal for hikers today and tomorrow. Was awesome to see the sign saying Belgium waffles stew ice cream and drinks. I wait for Hover and AJ who where close and Fiber also caught up, we head down and are greeted by their labradoodle dog and Hercules. We take off our shoes and wash our hands and they seat us at their table and explain the process. They hand us a drink menu that includes milk oj coke rootbeer coffee water tea and a few other things. Hercules gets our drinks and when someone asked for rootbeer he asked if you wanted a frosty mug then asked if you wanted ice cream in it. I got coke since it had the caffeine I wanted They set out silverware and napkins and serve everything for you. First course they give you the waffle and had butter and syrup. They take the plate when done and bring you a large bowl of pork stew for the second course. After that the give you a choice of 5 desserts which I can't even recall how detailed they where about what they where. Mine was warm bread pudding with plums and something else topped with ice cream drizzled with caramel. Other choices where a gourmet brownie served the same way, banana split, decadent chocolate pie with ice cream and I believe one other choice. They take pictures of each of us and get our names and offer us some religious books before sending us on our way. As we are leaving they play ball with their dog who pops a soccer ball with his nose back to them, I got a great video of it. Which by the way I sent home my picture memory card and maybe soon I will have my first pictures uploaded. With loaded stomach we then have to make a huge climb and 7 miles to our location. Can you say slow going because that is what it was. We never saw Pappy or shepherd during that time and hoped they didn't miss the sign, but at the first shelter we caught up to Pappy. He had missed it but said Shepherd was behind us so there was still hope for him. We had a tough end of the day climb but made it and did all the normal stuff. I headed to bed fairly early to write around 7:30 and its almost 9 now. Sleeping my first night with my tarp for a change but on a slight hill. Weather is supposed to stay good till tomorrow afternoon and then storms and high winds are supposed to roll in. We are planning to go about 10.5 to a shelter to ride out the storm tomorrow night.So the last couple of days I am pretty sure I am having issues with my pack pinching a nerve in my back or something. My upper back gets tingly for a while and itches at night. Maybe some sort of irritation or can be caused by the heavy weight of my pack right now, not sure what yet, but will have to figure it out soon. Boring food for the day other than the trail magic and will be boring for a few more days.The trail has shown signs of spring but is holding off it seems. Might just be because we are here everyday and it seems to go slow. Tomorrow we pass 300 miles when we get to Big Butt mountain. Gotta love the names, they are also very lazy naming as everything is low gap, deep gap, something with sassafras. Interesting names are Chunky Girl trail, Swinging Lick gap, Big Butt mountain. Its almost been a month since I started which was the 16th for hiking but the 17th on the AT. Doesn't seem that long but we have a long way to go as well. Next major spot will be getting to Damascus in a couple weeks and the dreaded Virginia blues. Usually a month and a half of Virginia where a lot of people drop off. I am looking forward to it as you can really rack up some mileage on the flatter ground. If the weather clears up I believe it will be some time to do some more night hiking. Might do some in the morning as currently the moon is very bright out. Happy Birthday Chris!Well time for sleep to get up early or sleep in and get some good rest, we will see how it goes.