Date: 2009-12-11
To: Prep #13
Miles today: 0.0

DRIVING LIKE A CULLENMid-week start from Chicago at the tail end of morning rush hour, overcast but dry, with an eclectic selection of music, a bodice ripper book on tape which is hilarious listening, and disgustingly unhealthy snacks. Perfect start to a 3-week road trip. Made it to Knoxville, Tennessee unconscionably fast arriving well before evening rush hour. You can do the math. Had a delightful 7-day visit with my brother and sister-in-law, then headed out for Miami, Florida.FALL ON THE ATBrought my backpack and gear along just in case I decided to go hiking. Yeah, right. Even I know that Springer is between Knoxville and Miami. The draw to see it and put feet on it was irresistible. You can drive almost to the top of Springer, but the road is not for the faint hearted. Unpaved single lane, no shoulders, no guard rails, no turnarounds, lots of ruts, mud and potholes, downed branches from the high winds earlier in the day, one hairpin turn after another for MILES. No posted speed limit necessary, I never had it over 20 mph. Thankfully only met one oncoming vehicle and we somehow squeezed by each other with only an inch to spare. Finally pulled into the parking area by the AT. One other vehicle was there with a sign in the window, ¢First person to find this car can take it, we have abandoned it.¢ Keys were in the ignition. It was mid-afternoon when I arrived so decided to hike the 1.9 miles to the next shelter.   Made it about a half mile and had to cross a stream which would have been easy with the stepping stones but because of the previous days of rain, was high and running fast, albeit only knee deep. There were a couple of downed trees across the stream so I chose the largest one and started across. I had forgotten how a backpack disrupts one¢s usual sense of balance. As I started to lose my balance and fall backwards, I grabbed a nearby tree branch to steady myself. Unfortunately I overcompensated and then fell forward and down about three feet off the tree into the stream. Sat in the water and mud only for a moment ascertaining whether anything was broken as my shin, kneecap and arm had all been intimate with a couple of the large rocks. Nothing broken, a little blood on the knee and bruises to the shin and pride. Fortunately this was just a practice hike. If it had been the start of my thru-hike, I think I would have freaked out getting an injury only a half mile out of the gate. Note to self¢be more careful!I quickly discovered that all my morning hikes up and down the hills in the Fox River Valley in Illinois had put me in good physical shape to handle the AT. But the altitude did have me huffing and puffing a bit. Chicago is at about 650 feet above sea level. So Springer¢s 4000 feet got to me. A few years back I camped at Deadly Cold Lyman Lake in northeast Arizona at 6300 feet and couldn¢t even set up my tent without resting and catching my breath. But that went away in a couple of days as my body quickly manufactured extra red corpuscles to carry more oxygen to my system. A side note here: When we got to a lower altitude, we experienced an interesting ¢high¢ because we were so oxygen rich but that went away in a few hours as our bodies sloughed off the extra corpuscles that were no longer needed.PALM TREES AND BALMY BREEZESI said goodbye to the stunning mountains in Georgia and headed south to the flatlands of Florida. Camped at Kissimmee Prairie State Park about 35 miles northwest of Okeechobee. Drove in at dusk and saw numerous owls hunting along the 10 miles of gravel road leading into this wildlife preserve and two deer which by northern whitetail standards were small and delicate. Heard some grunting noises in the middle of the night, probably an alligator. I so don¢t like not being at the top of the food chain. Fired up the laptop this morning at 5:00 and had a strong enough signal for the air card. Had a moment of regret having missed all the character-building weather up north, but that didn¢t last long as I¢m sitting here in a t-shirt in 68 degrees listening to the rustle of the palm trees and paying close attention to the way too close grunting noises behind me. Nothing like a little adrenaline with your morning coffee. Arrived in Miami a few hours later and took a dinghy a half mile offshore to where my daughter and son-in-law¢s boats are anchored.   It¢s +3 in Chicago, +80 here. Good timing for travelling south.