Date: 2006-09-15
From: somewhere near licklog gap

To: rufus morgan shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: clear sky

======2003====== wednesday, march 5, day 12got up and out in the dark again this AM (6:30)¢¦¢¦tried not to disturb the other campers¢¦¢¦.it rained some last night, so all was wet and drippy¢¦¢¦VERY foggy!...i worried about us findin¢ the blazes, but charlie is a good trail-blazer!we walked for about an hour and came to cold spring shelter¢¦vic and irish were there! (i thought they were behind us!.....forgot we took time off in franklin!)¢¦¢¦.in the semi- darkness and with his hat off, i didn¢t recognize vic..(he had dark hair, not red like I assumed!)¢¦..we also saw them a little later on at the road crossing (the gap) and ¢visited¢ with them a while ¢¦..nice to have the chance to get to know them a little better¢¦.i walked in sort of a ¢trance¢ in the fog this morning¢¦¢¦in that kind of weather there are no views (except the ones inside of you )¢¦..was in deep thought and prayer for whoever came to my mind¢¦..after our ¢gap chat¢ with vic and irish, however, the sun came out , it warmed up and the rest of the day was just like a fairy tale!......wesser bald was lovely, though small¢¦..we didn¢t climb the tower, but were able to enjoy the views anyway AND a PICNIC!.....couldn¢t have imagined it getting any better, but it did!....as the terrain rising up and down worked its way over to jumpup lookout, the botany got more and more interesting (in fact, this was what one might have called a ¢botany day, charlie admiring the silvery bark of the birches and i finding the first arbutus buds!)¢¦..anyway, we began to see table mountain pine and THEN, mountain pieris!*¢¦..rare! wonderful!finally, after working our way over these beautiful little dryish, laurel-y knolls, the trail came out on the lookout and it felt like we were standing on the edge of the world!....the footing* was very tricky, though, and i was a little nervous, but made it down okay¢¦¢¦the view was the most breathtaking yet and i felt very blessed to have seen it!we picked our way down roots and boulders, then turned back in under the lookout where we encountered more ¢magic¢!...a cave!... small, dark, mossy, and very ¢galax-y¢, it was really just like a place out of j. r. r. tolkien¢s imagination!...WOW!the rest of the afternoon we spent making our way slowly over very steep, very rocky and root-y terrain, but all the while taking in fabulous views of mountain peaks (sometimes along a ¢knife-edge¢)it was warm today..¢¦.springlike¢¦¢¦.the sun was just a bright smudge in a hazy sky¢¦..thunderstorms are building for tonight¢¦..we reached our campsite early , however, and had plenty of time to set up, shower (even washed my hair*) and cook dinner¢¦.but now, the rain is beginning to fall¢¦the trail maintainers we met earlier today warned us of the coming storms and suggested we stay in their shelter, but here we are all snug and dry under our tarp once again¢¦we¢ll see how it goes¢¦tomorrow is our anniversary¢¦we¢ll celebrate by eating breakfast at noc ¢¦.we¢ll pick up our drop and if all goes well, we¢ll be ready to CLIMB early¢¦..that should be an all-day thing, so we¢re prayin¢ the Lord will give us strength and encouragement*¢¦i think it will be 11 miles or so tomorrow¢¦i read from romans 12 this AM, ¢be aglow with the Spirit, serving the Lord¢¦rejoice in hope¢¦be steadfast in suffering and be constant in prayer!¢(was the apostle paul hiking the AT ?!!)¢¦.GOOD ADVICE¢¦.one other thought i had earlier today: ( i had mentioned how vandalism had ¢besmudged¢ wayah bald¢¦..graffitti, garbage, broken glass)¢¦.well, it made me consider this : earth,......FIRST earth, that is, is much like a ¢starter home¢....and we, ¢the bride¢ with Christ, ¢our bridegroom¢, should be enjoying it and caring for it NOW as we wait for and anticipate that ¢Dream Home¢ we¢ll one day enjoy together with Him¢¦¢¦but some folks unfortunately never get past the ¢starter home phase¢ and thus have no regard for earth¢s ¢equity¢ or ¢increasing property value¢ (increasing because one day Christ , as the ultimate and divine ¢Recycler¢, will restore it to its original [and probably even BETTER] state of eternal existence!)¢¦..we don¢t keep our ¢home¢ well¢¦.for we fail to capture the idea that living well HERE   is simply ¢practice¢ for living well THERE!...if we have no hope of a ¢dream home¢, we will have no thought but to live in squalor and waste in THIS beautiful ¢bungalow¢ our Bridegroom has so graciously given us !....my prayer is that my Creator would help me to be more appreciative of First Earth, and to be a loving, caring ¢bride¢ intent on keeping it well (till New Earth makes her appearance!)it¢s 6:35¢¦¢¦charlie is snoring¢¦.i think i¢ll join him!======2006====== thursday, february 23, day 12, (from the campsite below wayah to noc, 17 miles)God is sooooo good!....as soon as we got up and out this AM the rain stopped and the day turned off really pretty¢¦(really COLD, but really pretty!)¢¦..it was hard, though¢¦..our knees and feet are actually a bit ache-y tonight because we hiked down all day from near wayah which is about 5000 ft, i think¢¦..we went over one of my favorite sections, though¢¦.the jumpup lookout!....i remembered its being pretty, but not nearly as pretty as I saw it today!...the botany over this section is incredible! (galax, arbutus, lyonia, table mtn. pine, etc.)¢¦¢¦but one thing I noticed in particular today was the lichen on everything¢¦.the ¢beard-y¢ kind ¢¦.in fact, there was so much as we walked along this morning that the winter woods looked ¢green¢!......under the lookout is a beautiful ¢grotto¢¢¦¢¦i slipped and fell because i failed to practice our rule of STOPPING when you look, and i was trying to take in the grotto while making my way down the slope¢¦.but I was okay¢¦..(moral here is ¢take TIME to STOP and smell the roses!¢¢¦¢¦i forgot to tell yesterday about paw-ee losing one of his poles* off the bridge near franklin!...right off down in the stream it went!....( but not to worry.we fished it out)surprise!...we are actually at a real live motel at noc tonight!....HEAVEN! (AFTER ALL THE COLD AND SNOW WE¢VE HAD!)¢¦..i don¢t know what got into paw-ee, but here we are and i LOVE it!......the ¢motel¢ is really more like a chalet or cabin, so I feel like i¢m on vacation!....(some folks probably think hikin¢ the trail is like bein¢ on vacation¢¦.not for us¢¦it¢s the hardest work we¢ve ever done!....[but worth it!] )¢¦..anyway, we love the woods, but we¢re glad to be INside tonight for a while!we can hear frogs peepin¢ through our open window*¢¦¢¦*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS---------*mtn. pieris¢¦¢¦it was really lyonia , i think, but it was fun at the time to think we had seen a plant we¢d never seen in the wild before¢¦.*tricky footing¢¦.as i mentioned in the entry above, in ¢06 i slipped and fell¢¦..had I gotten a wee bit cocky?.......a little over-confident?......come to think of it, i suppose i do that in ¢real life¢, too (guess we all do¢¦)¢¦..1st Corinthians 10:12¢¦ ¢let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall!¢¢¦..*hair washing¢¦..even though we were able to shower (with our portable bag) fairly often, i sometimes didn¢t wash my hair because it took it so long to dry ( even with a shorter hiking length)¢¦always when washing anything, however, we made sure we were well away from the water source or stream¢¦.*strength and encouragement¢¦¢¦it came in a most wonderful way as you¢ll see in the next entry¢¦.*poles¢¦.paw-ee¢s were still bamboo at this point¢¦..one nice thing about bamboo poles is that they¢re FREE and easy to replace( if you drop ¢em in a river or off a mountain or somethin¢), even if you have to have them shipped ¢¦(we had a stash of extras at home)¢¦..more on poles in our gear list¢¦¢¦(WHEN I get around to posting it!)*open window....a long distance hiker will almost suffocate in an enclosed room....even now that we are home, we'll leave a window slightly open even in the coldest weather