Date: 2007-04-08
From: Rte 19E

To: Walnut Mountain Rd
Miles today: 10.2

Saturday, April 7, 2007Zero day, laundry, shopping, eating. Our last meal at the wonderful Nanny¢s Country Cookin¢, 256 Highway 91, Elizabethton, TN, one mile from red light at Food City, on the right. This place rivals The Home Place in Catawba and The Smith House in Dahlonega. Family-style nights are Saturday and Sunday. Usually open until 9PM.We had choice of 2 of 4 meats, we picked fried chicken and meatloaf and both were wonderful, the fried chicken the best I ever had. A secret recipe. Side dishes were green beans, corn, slaw, cooked apples, mashed potatoes, cornbread salad, fried cabbage, brown gravy and rolls. We passed on the macaroni and cheese and pinto beans. Dessert peach cobbler and ice cream. Everything homemade.Sheena tells us to stay in touch! And to come back! We will.Easter Sunday, April 8, 200719E to Walnut Mountain Rd, 10.2 milesStart 7:50, skies clear, temps in the high teens.Bundled up again in scarf and hat and mittens. Fingers get cold while I¢m packing things up. Wool mittens and loose-fitting polyester liners are not warming them up. My fingers say, We want a hot steak or sausage pie to hold. This isn¢t New Zealand, you guys, you¢ll have to warm up on your own. Gradually they do, but when blood rushes in, they really sting.Yesterday the plastic strap to my wristwatch broke. I don¢t carry a lot of stuff, but for me a watch is a must-have. Fixed it with dental floss.Footway is crunchy, icy in spots. Where incline is steep, I slide back with each step.I¢m experimenting hiking in snow wearing Crocs and one pair of Smartwools. Not sure this is a good decision. We¢ll see. Ice walkers would help this morning. For more friction I try to put my feet where the snow is, not the ice. Hopefully later on temps will rise and snow will soften.An incredible old tree, maybe a white oak (?), covered in snow, framing the view behind me where we hiked 2 days ago.No white blazes? I¢m at a five-way intersection. Red blazes, not white. Retrace steps. Here¢s where I missed a turn. I¢d looked ahead and I¢d seen a white blaze, then concentrated on where I was putting my feet. Also I was following bootprints in the snow. Passed by an arrow to the right. If that white blaze had been a double, I wouldn¢t have made that mistake. Not much time lost, probably 15-20 minutes.It¢s a winterspring walk today. Thinking about Hammock Hanger. Hoping she¢s experiencing the beauty I¢m seeing today. Hammock Hanger, you are one tough woman and a great journalist. I agree with guestbook signer your GET inaugural thruhike and your impressive powers of description just has to produce a best-seller. Can¢t wait to read your next installment and follow you each step of the way to NY.Backlit greens, blazing white snow (I didn¢t take sunglasses today, a mistake), rainbow-colored sparkles, crystal ice formations. Path is bare. Not melted at all. Snow depth seems to vary between 2 and 5 inches.I walk down into Isaac Cemetery this Easter morning paying respects to those who rest there.In rhodo, pine and hemlocks, welcome shade. Rhodo, pine and hemlock boughs, armed with snowpedoes, poised to unload their icy payloads down the back of your neck.Thinking of my first Easter on the AT in April 2003, the day I met Clara and Tony.Whoops, a muddy downward slant and down I go, a long slide and a shaboom. Not hurt. Whoops, repeat. That¢s 6 falls this trip, all the same.11:30 meet Memere and Gray Feathers! Hello you two! I love this method of hiking, starting at opposite ends and meeting in the middle. A neat way to combine solitude and togetherness. They met Skip, still in his sleeping bag, at the Mountaineer Falls shelter. He said he was cold last night. No wonder, temps were in the teens last night. He¢ll try to get to Abby¢s Place to warm up. A lot of NOBO thruhikers are contending with unseasonable cold these last 2 days.Rhodo leaves are perking up. Pretty grassy stretch along the creek. I remember this from the 2005 hike. Prescribed Burn sign at the creek. Another sign at Walnut Mtn Rd. Burn between the 2 signs will be done before April 30.12 hour lunch, meatloaf sandwich from last night, cranberry juice and gingerale mixed. M-m-m-m-m.Birds puffing up their feathers against the cold.As I approach it, a vole on the trail runs into a hole in a tree stump.Mountaineer Falls Shelter register:4-7-07 Stopped for lunch. Hiking through 6 inches of snow. Stayed at Mountain Harbor last night. If you¢re SOBO check it out, great hostel. Hostel-hopping to Abby¢s Place tonight. Then to Kincora or beyond. Happy Easter. Monkey and Cocoa.Out at 3:10. Beautiful beautiful hike. I love snow.