Date: 2003-03-24
From: icewater spring shelter

To: pecks corner shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: clear sky

tried to use one of the weekenders' cell phones this morning to call the PO and save myself a six mile round-trip if my package isnt' there, but no reception. it's okay though, i have a good feeling about today.said bye to mama lipton and flatlander. they're going just to the next shelter at pecks corner, so i'm hoping that if i get my package i'll be there as well. on my way down back to newfound gap i ran into swiftsandals who i hadn't seen since the day going into neels gap, something like 170 miles ago. hell, he hadn't even acquired a trailname by then. i just knew him as ryan. anyways, the look of recognition and then surprise that lit up both our faces was pretty funny. we shot it for a while right on the trail catching up on what's been going on, who's around, who's gotten off, who's ahead, and just about everything else in between. shortly after tree rolled up. sandals and him have been walking around each other for a few days now and we got introduced. they were both headed to pecks corner shelter, so i wished them well and they wished me luck on my package. i was off.i made it down to the gap and ran into another hiker who told me that there was an angel doing majic in the parking lot. "look for a red mini-van," he told me. i found the mini-van and got the pleasure of meeting mainframe who'd hiked the trail in '02. mainframe offered me some fruit, chips, juice and soda and i glady took him up on all of it. mainframe was also gonna be doing shuttles to gatlingburg and back to the gap, so i gladly took him up on that as well. since it was only me and the other hiker, mr. president after introduction, we were gonna wait around a bit to see if any other hikers came through. perhaps a van-load.soon enough they came and as mr. president and a friend of his by the name of trail frog were talking, i overheard mr. president use one of the funniest trail sayings around. if i remember correctly the conversation whet something like this: "i ate it today." (trail frog starts laughing). "yeah, i ate sh*t big time today." apparently on his way down to the gap president was going at a pretty fast pace and instead of stepping over a wet log, he had stepped on it, slipped, and ate it nicely. i know, i know, what's all this "ate it" business anyways. basically what it means is that you fell face-first, thus raising the potential of actually getting something into your mouth or at least all over your face. hilarious! i was practically on the ground. you know it's funny and all, but the way this cat told it was even funnier.having achieved a few good laughs and a van-load of hikers, we all piled up and headed down to gatlinburg (my second time). we all got dropped off at the happy hiker where i went in and was informed that they didn't have a package for me, but that sometimes the parcels come later. i posted myself outside with some other hikers and waited. shortly after the gentleman working there came out and said that perhaps my package had been small enough to fit in the mailbox and that's why it hadn't been brought in with the rest of the stuff. he went to the box and when he truned the corner on his way back holding a white box that i very much recognized and then called out my name, well, i was literally beaming. i thanked the guy profusely even though he hadn't had much to do with the delivery of my package, but i just had to thank someone.i opened up my box and found all my food there (too much in fact), but most importantly my money was there as well. i had to buy a couple of things at the outfitters, so i went in holding my money in my hands like a little kid with a silly grin on my face and told the worker that i needed a headlamp and a spork. that taken care of i went outside and packed up my food. mainframe had said that he was gonna get some lunch and then swing by to see if anyone needed a ride back to the gap. within fifteen minutes of me having packed up my stuff, mainframe came by and we were off.it was just mainframe and myself on the way back and we had a really pleasant coversation. he said a couple of really encouraging things to me and a couple of others that raised my appreciation for the trail community as well. one of these tid-bits is that we have to take care of our hostels ya'll, as well as all the stores and facilities that we visit along the trail, even the way we interact with the people that give us rides is important. if we don't we'll lose a lot of these places and sevices and the hikers behind us or from next season are gonna be the ones to feel the consequences. and it's not because of money that these places are lost. hell, if you haven't the money to pay for your stay at most of the hostels, they'll let you work-for-stay, as i so often discovered for myself, because of my own lack of funds. no, it's not because of money, but because some of us don't bring in the respect that we shoud be bringing in. they get fed up with us and as so often happens, one person or group of persons ruins it for everyone else. mainframe taught me a few things during that ride. when we got to the gap we talked some more, exchaned hugs, warm goodbyes and photos of each other.starting off on the trail i just couldn't believe it that i was once again free. i could go as far as i wanted to and there was no need for turning back the next morning. i could walk and walk and then walk some more. i was beaming. i was ready to catch up to friends i hadn't seen for four days ever since i got stuck and they kept going. i was ready to see friends that i'd just seen this morning. i was ready to be a thru-hiker again.i walked at a furious pace aside from the fact that my pack was fully stocked. when i got to icewater spring shelter where i'd just left this morning i stopped in and had some lunch. got to talking to some weekenders and gave them some of my food as well as the fanny-pack portion of my pack. this was another of mainframe's tid-bits of knowledge. the fanny-pack gone, i no longer needed the straps that held it in place, so i cut those off gave them to some of the weekenders who were on their way out.all lighter and better off, i got back on the move again. within a few miles i got to one of the smokies' great highlights--charlie's bunion. gorgeous views from there as well as two gorgeous girls that were weekending. they asked me to take their photo on the bunion and i asked them to do the same. what i should've done, come to think of it, was taken a photo with them instead.i got going and before i knew it dusk was upon me. i had never night-hiked and i wasn't too sure about doing it in the smokies. the reluctance of running into a bear, especially at night, still being there and all. but i guess i really had no choice at this point, so i dug out my newly acquired headlamp, strapped it on and pressed the button. nothing. pressed it again. nothing. all the lamp would do was turn on while my finger remained on it and then trun off when i took my finger off. oh-oh, i was in some trouble now. it was foggy and it was dark. the moon was up there somewhere, but it didn't even penetrate much beyond the canopy to do me any good.maybe it was just the batteries. i opened the case, switched the batteries around, closed the case and pressed the button. same thing. i shook the case and heard something rattling. "oh great," i thought. a brand new lamp with something rattling inside. it was too dark now to even try to find what that little, rattling piece was and then try to figure out what it did and how i could fix it or improvise. so what do yo do in these situations, you pray, you skake the troublesome object, you open it and blow into it, shake it some more, and top it all off with a little more praying, which is exactly what i did. i pressed the button and majic, the darned thing worked now. phew, these shadows are no joke with some light, but none at all, they can get your imagination going.i strapped on the good-ole pack and headed out. within a few miles i arrived at the side-trail junction to the shelter and went down. it was a long way down as i remember it, and by looking at my trail information right this second, i can honestly tell you that it was. it was exactly .4 mile to get down to that gorgeous shelter.there i found mama lipton, flatlander, swiftsandals, tree and some weekenders. everybody was in bed and some were already out cold. mama lipton and flatlander heard me while unpacking and they stuck out there heads to say hi and that they were happy that i got my package. one of the weekenders got up out of his bag to throw some more wood on the fire and we shot it for a bit while i got my dinner ready. everything having been taken care of, i jumped into my bag and called it a great night.