Date: 2005-04-27
From: Sams Gap

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: light rain

7:45I got started late. It was a little bit of a rough night last night. My knee was still hurting but, most of all, the wind just kept going for quite a long time. I ended up having to put in my earplugs and radio on to get away from the sound of the wind and the rain.It was about 30 degrees last night, which would have been OK except for the wind shooting through the tent. It sucked away any heat I had made, even in the sleeping bag. Amazingly, I woke up at one point and everything was soaked with condensation. I couldn't see how I had gotten much condensation buildup with all the wind,but I guess the humidity must have been 100%. I stayed warm in the sleeping bag so it hadn't soaked through. By this morning, there's no wind, the sun is coming up, I can see blue in the sky.I'm sitting here eating my breakfast, packing and going to see what kind of miles I can make.3:00I'm walking. I'm just about to get to Spivey Gap. Today has been another screwed up weather day on the AT. I didn't get started until about 8:30 this morning, and the sun that I mentioned earlier, disappeared within minutes. Now we have these heavy gray clouds and it looks like it's going to be nightfall any minute. The big, long, consistent 3 hour uphill from Sams Gap to Big Bald Mountain and Big Stamp was through a really chilly wind. The thermometer did not go above 40 degrees until an hour or 2 ago. The sun kept popping out for a few minutes like a tease, and the next thing, it's dark and sleeting or raining, it's been going on for hours like this. As I'm approaching Spivey Gap now, it looks like the sun is out and is going to stay out. Maybe because I'm out of the tops of the mountains, Big Bald was up above 5,500 feet, everything else was 5,000 or close to it.I'm walking with alot of pain in my knee today. I'm considering taking a stick or something and duct taping it to my leg to keep the knee from bending. We will see what happens. If I make it to the next shelter, which is about 5 miles more, it'll be 11 miles into Erwin and I can limp in there tomorrow, maybe pick up my package from Uncle Johnny's. I don't know if I want to stay there if I zero, I'll do it at Janet's house where I'm alot more comfortable. I stopped at a shelter and spent an hour and a half there. So, I've blown 3 hours already today between starting late and the time I spent at the shelter. I sat there and cooked and had something warm to eat. I was really chilly and it was 38 degrees at the time. All in all, I'll see how the day progresses here. Down days for me. I hate for it to be happening like this. I'll get over it. Sometimes you have good days and sometimes you have bad days. I've had more good days than bad days so far. I really don't have to be rushing anywhere. Maybe I'll just hang out in Erwin for a bit and get fat. Start again from there.Later that night....Ealier today, I was so busy whining and feeling sorry for myself that I forgot to mention what special places Big Bald and Big Stamp are. They are actually very fun to walk over.I've been in the Bald Mountains this past week. The Bald Mountains are so named because the peaks in this area are mostly treeless grasslands with 360 degree views. No one really knows how they got treeless. Some say that the Indians thousands of years ago had cleared the trees on the tops of them for one purpose or another. Other people say it's the severe weather that keeps them from growing up there, the winds and the frigid temperatures are pretty common up on the Bald. From what I understand, they now have to be maintained and periodically mowed to keep them that way, or the trees with start to encroach back on the peaks.Big Bald and Big Stamp are back to back bumps. You go over one, you go down, nd right up the other one. Big Bald is at 5,500 and Big Stamp is a little bit lower. Big Bald is alot like Max Patch, similar in size, maybe a littlelarger. It's a lot more rugged and wild and desolate. You get a feeling of being in the wildreness. Walking across it today was like walking on another planet,with the howling frigid winds and the sleet and the dark gray clouds that were flying so fast overhead it almost seemed like a time-lapsed movie. They were just hurdling right above my head, I felt almost like I had to duck sometimes.Today was a taxing day for everybody here, not just me. The shelter here is packed. I actually got in and got the last bunk, it's only a shelter for 6 people, and I ended up moving out later because one girl had no tent. So I pitched my tent. I got here about 9 o'clock and there were only about 6 of us, and now the place is over-run. There have to be 40 hikers here. Tents are everywhere. I tried to take a picture of it, but it was too dark.I know for a fact that at least half of them did more than 20 miles today through the mud and the rain, because I had left them behind quite a bit ago. The Trail was pretty screwed up today, the rain and the sleet and the snow had just turned it into chocolate pudding.All of these people pushed to get here to get into Erwin, which is only 11 miles away now. I'm thinking that I'd like to see how well I can walk and get into Uncle Johnny's Hostel early and get my mail drop. I'll pitch there for the night and move over into Miss Janet's in the morning and take my zero day there. Hopefully I can rest my right knee and try to get the swelling to go down. I was not planning on stopping in Erwin, I was planning on just picking my stuff up and walk right through. Now it seems like the most sensible thing to do. Having made that desicion, I can't wait to hit the All You Can Eat at LogHorn's.