Date: 2014-03-10
From: Backcountry campsite #12

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at 8am to heat water for coffee and eat our food bars for breakfast. The coffee is instant and from Brazil and I'm pretty sure it's better than anything else I've had. This was the start of a tough day. The map indicated an immediate upward slope & it was accurate. Over the first 2.5 miles the trail climbed 2,500 feet nearly to the summit of Gregory Bald. The mountain gets its name from a man named Gregory whom lived in the area in the middle 1800s. He was killed by Confederate guerrillas because he had ideas a little too liberal for them to just leave him alone. The Bald part of the name is descriptive in that the summit is without any trees. At Rich Gap the trail came to a T-junction and we turned eastward onto Gregory Bald Trail. These two miles were filled with more climbs, and by the time we reached the Appalachian Trail I had changed my socks 3 times. Shortly thereafter I changed out of my boots and into my barefoot style camp shoes. I am listening closely to what my feet are telling me so that I can ward off blisters & other troubles that can halt a hike. At the top of Doe Ridge was Doe Gap, where we found the Appalachian Trail (AT). I glanced upward to see four hikers headed north, in the same direction we would take. One of them was a man about 40 years old, and his wife. The others were two girls about 23. All four of them had started the trail in Georgia and were 'Thru hikers', or AT hikers planning to walk all the way to Maine. They told us they were staying at a shelter 3.0 miles north, Mollies Ridge Shelter. We were headed to the same place. These 3 miles, by the way, were also very tough...I had placed my boots in the top portion of my backpack and this increased the weight on my shoulders significantly...well, tremendously. Joseph nor myself had ever stayed in a shelter before, and I had always avoided them - why? Because I like to judge a book by its cover - well, not really, but in this case my judgement was an understatement. I misjudged the shelter idea only because I had not been critical enough. It was awful. When we approached I was asked abruptly and firmly by the presiding Ridge Runner (a person the park service employs to police more heavily used trails & campsites) if I was a thru hiker and what exactly our intentions were. When I indicated that I had in my pocked the reservation I had made for us he waved his hand and we were welcomed to the shelter. Anyway, a shelter is a 3-sided wooden & stone structure - usually with a fireplace - with a dirt/mud floor and two wooden platforms with a ladder to access the top one. Fourteen people were at Mollies Ridge Shelter March 10. As soon as the lights went out, the snoring began. I laid in my bag from 8pm until 1am when I went to sleep....   At the first light I was the first person to escape the shelter and do absolutely anything other than be inside of it.. Even though the sleeping experience was so bad, I really did enjoy the company of AT hikers I met. Not one of them did I not like (in the waking hours) and everyone was very kind. People on the AT are people that have been simplified. If you have ever heard the term 'trail name' it is referring to the new name each long distance hiker is given. Trail names are given seemingly out of no where, and they always stick. From the time you have a trail name, that is your name for all things AT. Some of the people at Mollies Ridge were: Young Beard, 3-Mile, Chigger, Sunshine, Wiki, and a few others. When I first introduced myself after arriving it was as John. Then after emerging from the snore cave Sunshine asked me my name again. I replied, "it's John...for now". 3-Mile heard my response and quickly mentioned that he liked my trail name... John-for-now. It may sound absolutely dumb but it has really grown on me. So I am 'John-for-now' from now on, or at least while I'm hiking, which technically does mean for now...indefinitely.   :-)