Date: 2010-04-06
From: Big Spring Shelter

To: Siler Bald
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: clear sky

Woot woot! Go me! Passed 100 today!I don't know!? Thought of Daytrippers comments yesterday. How he was ready to "Conquor" Mtn. Albert. I'm glad my experiences have helped me to understand how impossible that is. You'll never overthrow a mountain. You, alone, can't dig it up. And you're scaling it, will definitely never do anything other than cause a little erosion. I'm not out here to defeat anything. It's not "Skippy" vs. the Wild! It's not Me vs. anything. I'm here to be passive. To bend and shift with the wind. It's like Chuck Palahniuk said, "Man has to pee on everything" to mark their territory. I'm not sure if it's pride or arrogance.The coyotes were howling last night! Wow, spppooooky! I thought about crawling on top of the shelter. The sunrise was wonderful this morning again. The fog in the valleys looked like those time lapsed/over exposed photos of water falls. The one's where the water looks like a veil drapped over the rocks. I keep imagining that my legs are wooden or numb. Like peg legs. They don't hurt. They're not sore. They just feel other worldly. There's this technique for strengthening stems on plants to make them more efficient at transfering nutrients and water up to the leaves. It's done by bending the stem until the stem almost breaks. I feel like that's what I'm doing out here. I'm here to endure this to be better, more efficient.Just ate Maple Nut and Apple oatmeal. Topped it off with the last of my powdered milk. Made it down to Hwy 64. Waited for about 45 minutes for a shuttle to pick me up and bring me here. Waited with the first Southbounder I've seen. Skizzo or something. Skizzo (Southbounder) started last June from Quebec, Canada! He hiked up Big Hump bald in 4 feet of snow! He said, "There were times when I was hiking on top of the trees!" Adam and Fred were also on the shuttle. Adam is an ESL teacher. When the shuttle arrived...out jumped that guy, "Country". Darn it! He'd gone backwards instead of going over Albert. I've got to get away from this guy. I'm sitting at the Budget Inn using their "Limit Use to 30 Minutes" computer. Realizing I've gone far, far over that limit. I'm going to get some groceries, check my voicemail and try my best to get back to the trail before dark.Well, until the NOC! Best wishes to all my friends and family! Miss you all!!!So, here's the second half of that journey....Shopped at Ingles. Got enough food to last until Fontana. I used the Ingles grocery store bathroom to freshen up. I ate my Hersey's white chocolate cookies and cream bar, a quart of whole milk, and 2 pounds of seedless grapes in front of the store. I was loitering! I loaded my food bag as I answered questions from random strangers. This feels like being a celebrity! haha. An old guy in a kilt came up and started telling me that today he was celebrating the Scottish Independence Day. He's a founding member of the Nantahala Hiking Club. He broke the first trail with Rufus Morgan himself. My mind was on getting back to the trail the entire time I talked to these people. I was so worried. It's in my nature to be concerned with such details. I wanted to have it all planned out, but that's just not the way things go around here. I wanted to know if I'd succeed at avoiding the trap of staying at a hotel/motel. The whole free shuttle to Franklin is a gimmick. They get you in town, but they don't bring you back until in the morning. I immediately notice how much hotter it is in the city. The pavement reflecting the sunlight. Loud! Busy! Smelly cars and loud trucks. I can already feel something has changed in me. The neon glitter doesn't have the same luster anymore. People here in Franklin are still really nice though. Lots of waves and peace signs. I really haven't had nearly enough yet of the outdoors. I haven't started craving television, air conditioning, or junk food. So, I decided to hitchhike!On my way out of town, I passed a guy sporting bomber shades that told me there was, "No way you're getting a ride from this town, people here don't take kindly to hitchhikers, most like every town I guess"I told him, "I've got faith that someone will"Sure enough, with little effort, and less than 10 minutes. I had a ride! Grant Lambert "Chunky Munky" came to my rescue. Grant, is a three time thru-hiker himself! He'd quit his job at the same age as me and spent three years walking up and down the AT. Now, he works for "Valspar" as a sales rep. He has two boys and raises all his own food with his wife on 1000 square feet of land. Grant gave me his business card, added his cell phone number and told me, "If you or any of your hiking friends need anything, ANYTHING just give him a call. I'll come help anywhere between here and Asheville!". Wow, how's that for humanity?!I was so glad to be back in the shade of the trees! I don't have signs to obey here, no signals to see, no cars to avoid. It's cold and the ground is soft! I really think I'm in trouble after this trip. It's going to be hard to readjust for a while.Wouldn't you know it, but right at the trail head sat none other than "Country". He was already back from town, drinking a beer and washing his feet in the stream. Wow, I've gotta put this guy in my dust.I hiked up really quickly to Siler Bald. There I set my tent up in the dark. I'm so glad to be home again and not in a motel. Today I made a total of 13.3 miles on the AT. Not bad for a "town" day. The stars were absolutely beautiful! Breathtakingly visible for galaxies! This is so much better than water stained, popcorn ceilings, squeaky fans and bed bugs, well there's probably bugs here too. Happy, 100% happy! Used my new, recycled bear rope. Of course the first weight I used wasn't heavy enough. So it wouldn't slide down, so I had to use something heavier. There were no rocks, so I got a huge stick. The first time I threw the stick and rope over the limb, perfect! I hit it the first time, but it slid all the way over and pulled the rope over the limb and the whole rope landed on the ground. This bear bag stuff is endlessly entertaining!