Date: 2006-03-21
From: Winding Stair Gap (then into Franklin)

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 15.8

After my first ¢zero day¢ in Franklin, NC, and with my shin-splints finally gone, our hiking crew took a shuttle back to Winding Stair Gap and got back on the trail to work off one of the all you can eat buffets we had indulged in. This was to be the 10th day of my Appalachian Trail experience, and the day I would be named. Right from the get-go I was picking up trash again. The stuff was all over the trail. Within the first 4 miles, I had picked up over thirty scraps and it just got worse. A mist was in the air that morning and the only thing I saw from the top of Siler Bald was an empty Gatorade bottle lying in the brush. It was a big 32 ouncer or so and I almost ignored it¢had in fact walked past it before turning back. What was I supposed to do with it? The thing was huge. I didn¢t feel like rifling through my pack right then, so I just wedged it under a garbage bag I was using as a rain-fly and continued on. Another, smaller Gatorade bottle greeted me less than a mile later. I wedged it inside one of the Croc sandals hanging from the rear of my pack. The glass bottle of Rolling Rock went inside the other sandal a few minutes later. I knew we had to be close to a road¢and civilization of course. I ran into Redneck atop Wayah Bald, next to the stone observation tower. He was having lunch and after seeing all the bottles hanging from my pack, he let me have it: ¢I got it,¢ he said. ¢You¢re Sanford.¢ I could only laugh and I nodded. ¢Alright. I can deal with that.¢ ¢You even have your own theme song,¢ Redneck informed me. After hiking 15.8 miles, I had picked up a grand total of 96 pieces of trash. More than half of what I had picked up during the previous nine days, and bringing my total up to 268. Luckily, there had been a trash can at Wayah Bald and I was able to ditch all the bottles and everything else I had accumulated. Cold Spring Shelter was too small for cozy with an inclined floor. There were room for 6 and the shelter was full within a half hour of my arrival. Restless, Buree, and I were on one side, and the second half was filled by Night Rider, Baloo, and Grey Fox¢three guys I had just met. As the forecast that evening called for freezing rain and snow, the hikers that followed (and there quite a few), were all disappointed to find the miniscule shelter cram-packed. Still, as a light rain began about dinner time, Cold Spring Shelter managed to house a few more individuals, providing a sheltered cooking area for perhaps twelve hikers. Flames of white gas and denatured alcohol were blazing every couple of feet and you had to watch where you stepped (nothing like finding a foot full of fire at supper time!), and fortunately there were no casualties. Following dinner, Night Rider withdrew a mousetrap and loaded it up with peanut butter. He had picked it up in Franklin and apparently had some interest in beating the previous record held by a past thru-hiker of executing 10 mice in a single evening. The first one came just as everyone was starting to drift off. I was writing this journal entry when, THWACK¢the trap¢s death-bar came down on a rodent¢s leg. Grey Fox and Night Rider jumped up to check the damage and watched with disbelief as the little mouse took off under the shelter, dragging the trap behind it. Grey Fox was too fast however, and after seeing three more mice beneath the shelter, Night Rider loaded up the peanut butter again. 6 minutes, 22 seconds later: THWACK! It would be a while before sleep took me.***Random Register Entry: ¢Which would you prefer?1. Hiking the Trail2. Having someone describe the Trail to you.¢