Date: 2008-03-10
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Grassy Gap
Miles today: 14.6

Well, we woke up at around 7a and Kanati stirred the coals and put more wood on so that we could have a nice little fire as we ate breakfast. Luckily, the bear didn't venture into camp last night--I think it's because the bear knew who was in the shelter and knew better than to bother us (HaHa)! After packing up and eating the standard Pop-Tart breakfast, we were near Wesser Bald and Toddy Bear and I pulled ahead of Kanati a little because the uphills were very steep! As we walked, Toddy Bear began to tell me stories about a guy named Carl who works with him at the dealership:One day, some Ford execs were going to T.Bear's dealership and the Boss sent Carl, who doesn't know colors, directions, and is illiterate, with $400 to pick up the order at Ryan's steakhouse. Well, they saw the purple Neon drive in the correct direction, then a couple minutes later, it zoomed by in the opposite direction, and then it whizzed back to the right. When Carl finally pulled back in the dealership, he had $400's worth of Wendy's food because neither Wendy's had the order and he had to place it himself...The Ford Execs forgave them for this. Another Story about Carl: There was a small gas spill on the side of a new car and the boss asked Carl to clean it up. Well, 3 minutes later, Carl returned and said he had found a better method in which to clean the gas off the car. When the management arrived at the car, they noticed that Carl had used Steel Wool to clean it and thus rubbed off all the paint.Alright...back to the Trail info. When we reached the observation tower, we had a snack break and and then climbed to the top...I crawled up because I am REALLY, REALLY afraid of heights--I think either T. Bear or Kanati took a pic, but I know they thought it was funny. After taking in the view, we pressed on to the NOC. When T.Bear and I made it, we took turns using the "flushable privy" and I noticed this clean cut chap approaching me. As he got closer, I thought, "This guy looks like Trailfoot, but he's got to be days ahead of me by now." Well, it was Trailfoot and he spent some time talking with us because he had some trouble receiving a package. I let them talk and went back to the trail to see if Kanati had arrived and he indeed did!!!Well, first thing's first...we quickly went to the restaurant and grabbed some food. I had the Black Bean Burger and Fries. Man, that really hit the spot, but I then quickly hustled to the Outfitters to get my maildrop and buy some gear, which did include a disposable camera. By 5p, 2.5 hours after we had arrived, we were leaving, just as Night Terror rolled in. Ricky and Brandon--2 guys from Auburn--also rolled in. They also started on March 1st and have been 1/2 day behind us since then. We began the steep climb out of the NOC and T. Bear and I pulled ahead of Kanati and then ran into 3 girls and a guy who were just doing an overnight trip. Well, all the excitement of the NOC made us forget to fill up on water and we asked them about its availability. They didn't know, so asked them to tell Kanati about our plans to tent at Grassy Gap. Right as we left them, I ran out of water and began to slow down. So, T.Bear gave me his phone number and decided to push on further to the shelter so that he could meet his parents in Gatlinburg on time. 1/2 way down the hill, Toddy Bear yelled back to me that he found water and then moved on. I gathered some water for me and Kanati because I knew he would have forgotten to get some too. Good thing I did, because when he saw me, the first thing he asked was about water. So, I decanted half my stash and we pushed on to the gap. When we got there, we quickly made camp and built a fire. Well, Ricky, Brandon and Night Terror soon joined us for the night. Kanati and I really didn't take too kindly to the Auburn boys because they kept insulting our trailnames, gear, and everything we did, but that's the glory of life, eh? Well, time to sleep another cold night!!