Date: 2005-04-19
From: Log Cabin Drive

To: Jerry's Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: few clouds

4.19.05Day 373:45pm Yesterday was a day of magic. Trail magic, and just plain old magic. It started w/ a lazy morning at the Concrete Dam Pond Lake Road campsite. Rolled out of my tent when I heard the tell-tale stirrings of my neighbors. Enjoyed a hearty breakfast of granola (which beats oatmeal hands-down, any day). Sauntered down the trail at a leisurely pace, starting around 8. And much of the day I experienced vivid flashbacks of last year, various sections of the trail as familiar as if I'd hiked it the day before. I came across the Rich Mountain Firetower trail, and, looking over to the nearby campsite, I could almost visualize Yertle and Kickstand, lounging over there. Since they weren't there in person, I took a good long break there in their honor. And from there, I continued my leisurely pace along the trail. At one point, I hooked up w/ Feelin' Free and Andy-- after taking a 2-hour siesta at Spring Mtn Shelter. Each time I tried to leave (okay, well, thought about leaving), someone else would show up, or the conversation would be too enticing, or the GLGE mentality would kick in. But, eventually, I moved on. Only to stop every, oh, 1 1/2 miles of so for yet another relaxing break. We had heard tell of trail magic at the second road crossing, so, when we stumbled in to Allen Gap and saw a note describing ice cream pie, and Cokes (and stew for the meat-eaters), we were mildly confused. Ecstatic. But confused. Wasn't it supposed to be at the next road? But, never turning down the possibility of home-cooked food, we tromped on down the road, and enjoyed fabulous, scrum-diddli-umptious food courtesy of Hercules and Fal (GAME '99), in their lovely wood home. Vanilla and strawberry ice cream over a chocolate graham cracker crust, w/ whipped cream. And, of course, the obligatory cherry on top. As a vegetarian, I was treated to freshly-baked corn bread. And an ice-cold Coke. De-licious. They're a truly amazing couple, having fed over 200 of this year's hikers, inviting us smelly, stinky, filthy souls into their house. But then, they're hikers themselves. The everlasting magic of the trail, the connectivity b/t everyone. It never leaves you. And you never leave it. We, reluctantly, pulled ourselves away from their hospitality, and walked a demanding 1.3 miles, to the next magic deopt, where we received Little Debbies and Snickers. Twice in one day. Such luck we enjoy.Today, we got a somewhat protracted start, the four of us -- me, CJ, Andy, and Feelin' Free. Hit the trail just shy of 9am, and we all thoroughly enjoyed every single step of the climb, first up to Little Laurel Shelter, and then up to the firetower. About a 2000-and-change elevation gain. And I felt 'em all. We decided to forego the blue blaze up to the tower. Skirt and I trudged up there last year, only to be disappointed, and slightly freaked out, by the X-Filean nature of the area -- the mountaintop porcupined w/ spiny towers, emitting monotone hums, barbed wire surrounding the bases. So, this year, I bypassed the experience. That isn't to say that we didn't take a break. B/c we did. There. And a mile from there. And a mile from there... Well, you get the idea. A markedly leisurely pace to the day, in true GLGE fashion. The rocky ridgewalk was even more phenomenal and fun than I remembered from last year. Maybe it was the company. Really enjoyed the hiking partners of the day. We rolled into Jerry's Cabin Shelter around 2:30, to find the rest of the GLGE crew (Break, Linux, Pacman, Gypsy Lulu, Touk, Ranger), sprawled in the grass. Serenity, Freedom, and Thatch rolled in, as did Weatherman, who we somehow managed to leapfrog just before the shelter. We got here, and decided to stay. I mean, what's the point? We did our 10 miles -- double digits even. Erwin will still be there, whether we arrive Friday morning, or Friday afternoon. And so, we stayed. Thunder is rumbling ominously in the not-so-distant distance, but CJ declaratively promises "no rain" tonight. We shall see.