Date: 2004-04-17
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Resort
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

2.8 miles in 7 hours.I spent a comfortable night tenting in back of the shelter.A group of grandmotherly types calling themselves "The Bandana Gang" stayed in the shelter. They had met and planned this on the internet. I'm amazed by the sheer range of physical types among hikers, including people you couldn't imagine stepping out of their kitchen or their cubicle. The group has thinned out from injuries and differing hiking abilities.Up and out by 7:30, with Raven. I'm fortunate to have a knowledgable hiking partner. He lives in Ann Arbor and is a frequent visitor to the arboretum the U. of Mich. maintains there. All along the trail he identified myriads of wildflowers we passed. A partial listing:Violets white and purple, trilliums white, deep red, and yellow, Trout lily, Solomon's seal, true and false, lupines, anemone, miniature irises, mayapple, poison ivy, bloodroot, and an aster-like flower.The hike was shorter with less vertical effort today. We saw Fontana Dam and its lake far below through the trees and gradually descended.As we limped into the the parking area at the dam, we smelled the delicious scent of hamburgers. A father-son couple from Atlanta had set up a grill and were handing out soft drinks as well. The son ("Burger") had thru-hiked last year and Dad ("Old Man") has section-hiked. We thanked them then caught a shuttle to the Inn.Old Man and Burger serving up trail magic at Fontana DamSo here I lie, clean and lazy, on a soft bed in the Inn, with a cool breeze drifting in through the sliding patio door. Two other hikers are in adjacent rooms. There's a fine hostel here as well, but we couldn't pass up the luxury at $30 a night for two. Off to an AYCE meal down the hall shortly. "Head music" today and yesterday: not a big selection. "Toiling" tunes including "Scotland the Brave" (with bagpipes), the Animals' Funeral March from Mahler 1, and "Hey Jude" as I labored up and down steep balds and gaps under a hot sun. Music over my lifetime: This has nothing to do with the AT but everything to do with all the time for reflection as you amble alongI recall as a 12 year old back in the early fifties what a musical wasteland I was living in. "Canadian Sunset," "How Much is That Doggie in the Window;" "Nel Blu, Di Pinto di Blu," male and female crooners, and the slick commercial folksinging groups. Maybe it fit with the bland, repressive tone of life back then, but I knew something was missing, but what?Then enter Carl Perkins, Elvis, and Jerry Lee Lewis, followed closely by Chuck Berry, then the west coast sounds of the Beach Boys. What a kick in the pants to those young ears! Better yet, it offended our elders.Then a few years later came another welcome jolt, the British Invasion. Sure, they were mainly based on black american blues, but they soon did plenty more, especially the Beatles. By then I was playing in a rock band, digging it 110%Then things went crazy, with Jimi's endless runs. I lost touch with the drugged-out music of the 70's, and only later came to appreciate the Dead. The heavy-metal, acid-rock, thrashing headbanging stuff was even harder to take. What was going on, beyond a rejection of hippie flower-child culture and everything that came before?The only bands that interested me in the 70's and 80's were CS&N, Steely Dan, and the guys with a punch- Huey Lewis &the News, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen, Warren Zevon, and Randy Newman- biting lyrics, good tunes. I'm itching to see what's around the corner. It's also great to see OUR KIDS LIKE OUR MUSIC! What other generation can say that??Whew, enough of that. The trail does weird things: the mind rambles as much as the feet! Time to ramble to bed. Had a big buffet dinner in a nearly deserted dining room with all the mountains spread out before us. But they'll have to wait, Tomorrow's a zero day.G'Nite!