Date: 2007-04-26
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Wayah Bald Shelter
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: light rain

4/26 5.8 miles, 4 hoursThe morning started out with a sudden temperature drop as we were getting ready to go. My feet were puffy from sleeping on the slanted floor. Beernuts and Hatchet left to get their car at NOC and go back to the other world. I left at 8:30. I realized at 8:35 I forgot to sign the shelter register, but oh, well. It started sprinkling around 10:30 and deteriorated from there. I went the 120 feet to the base of the Wesser Bald firetower iso benchmarks, but didn¢t find any. The view was three shades of fog, all around. I stopped at this shelter around 12:30 to get out of the rain. A young redheaded guy stopped in for just a few minutes; he wrote in the register about getting a burger and seeing an orthopedist about his knees at NOC. I wouldn¢t be surprised if he throws in the towel; there is no medical clinic at NOC, and just after he left, it POURED! Every half hour or so, it would storm and blow fiercely. I was SO glad to have a roof over my head, albeit tin! My original plan was to go four more miles, but this way I¢m still alive, and I don¢t need an orthopedist. Plus, I get more reading time!Reading this Kerouac book (On the Road) makes me think I should¢ve taken a Greyhound bus tour around the country, instead of hauling a 30# pack over the mountains in the rain. (Rain and uphills cause negative thought patterns). I¢ve taken Greyhound non-stop from Indy to Tampa, and it was awful. I¢m thinking it wouldn¢t be so bad if you got off to sleep at night, see the sights, and eat non-junk food. You¢d have plenty of reading time, and meet lots of people. One summer they had a special - for $200, you could ride unlimited. If my knee conks out on the trail, I may go Geocaching all over the country by bus. Right now, that sounds very relaxing!I had dozed off in my bag around 3pm and was awakened by the shuffling of gear. Apparently a Bag Lady has moved into the shelter with me. She never spoke a word to me or made eye contact. She would stare up at the rafters when I would face her. Once when she was shuffling her bags around she made a noise like ¢Broaaak.¢ Two guys with dogs stopped by to dry off (it rained until 5:30!); they introduced themselves and one guy shook my hand. He went around the table to shake Bag Lady¢s hand, and I don¢t know what happened, but he said ¢Oh¢ and backed off. 65 minutes of rattling and shuffling produced one pot of Ramen noodles. I feel sorry for her. I think she is in pain as she braces her left ribs when she coughs. I took a picture of her interesting gear while she was at the privy. There are shopping bags sticking out all over, bits of foam in different sizes, and what looks like assorted rags???Anyways, Wolfman¢s dogs plopped down as soon as they got under the roof. When the guys started off again, both dogs stood up and watched them for a moment from under the roof, as if to say ¢Are you F¢n nuts?¢ The guys whistled and the soggy dogs followed. The poor female left a wet spot in the dusty gravel where she had lain shivering. It convinced me more than ever that as much as I miss Dolly, it would¢ve been wrong to bring her with me.Thankful for: God¢s watchful eye.P.S. As soon as I had written the above sentence, four hikers came to the shelter and said ¢There is a deer over there watching you.¢ It ran off before I could get my shoes on to see it.