Date: 2003-06-15
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: light rain

Jerry Cabin Shelter ¢ alone. I awoke at 4:45 this morning with a start as I heard what sounded like my garbage bag with food falling to the ground from the tree where I had suspended it to keep the critters away. (Bear bagging). I quickly got my whistle and light and charged out of the shelter yelling, but there was just enough light to see the white plastic bag still hanging from the branch. I would not have gotten into a fight with a bear or some other large animal if they had my food bag, but if you bluff them, you have to make it sound real. Something had crashed to the ground ¢ probably a tree branch or dead tree stub of some kind ¢ my stuff was fine. So I was awake and began to get ready for the day. I left at 7:00. Today would be my longest remaining hike if things went according to plan ¢ 15.3 miles to Jerry Cabin Shelter. The first 3.7 miles to Allen Gap were pretty easy and I was there before 9:00. Crossing the road I entered the woods and went about 14 mile and ran into a man about my age ¢ peeing beside the trail. He had no pack or other hiking gear ¢ only two 10-pound barbells, one for each hand. He was wearing a Tennessee orange shirt. We made small talk for a minute and he used the words ¢research¢ and ¢fascinating¢ a number of times in that short conversation. I didn¢t bite so he began to tell me about his research. He says he has discovered that absolutely NO disease is caused or borne by microbes of any kind. NONE of them. He has discovered that every disease is caused by chemical imbalance. This situation involves the mind, which punishes the body when the person experiences guilt, by attacking the body¢s organs. He gave a very cursory explanation of how to apply his discovery, and claims it will cure any and all diseases. He says things like cancer just ¢clear right up¢, but things like MS ¢take a little longer¢. With me standing there soaking wet from sweat and very tired from the recent climb, I mentioned that I needed to go in order to make my destination. He was disappointed, made a small attempt to get me to stay and listen, but then told me where he lives and gave me his address ¢in case I want to write or come visit him sometime¢. He even gave me a little ¢method¢ for remembering his name and address (which works, I still remember it). I quoted Romans 8 verse 1, ¢There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus¢, and told him that there is nothing like forgiveness to take care of guilt. He was quite oblivious to that line of thought. He struck me as a little strange ¢ somewhat like a person who has lived his life in Academia, but it has led nowhere and he can¢t live in the real world. He lives in a trailer in the woods a little way ahead and a few hundred yards to the side. I am not sure what he is using as the basis for his research ¢ books or the Internet. I have not seen evidence of electric poles or lines for about 25 miles. In any case, I felt a little spooked by this guy in a weird sort of way, and watched over my shoulder as I covered the next five miles. It seemed like such a shame that all of this knowledge was only available to this lone man out here in the middle of nowhere. (!) Since he claimed to have experience with curing cancer and MS, my mind had some fun as I imagined a hole in the ground beneath his trailer where he keeps his ¢patients¢, and other scenarios in keeping with cheap horror movies. I know, I know, I¢m being closed-minded, critical and skeptical! A strange experience. I reached Little Laurel Shelter at 11:30 and had lunch, got water, and took a nap until 1:00. I had several long climbs this afternoon. I skipped visiting a fire tower and then got a view of the tower from White Rock Cliffs about a mile ahead. This was a good perch for several good pictures, and there were a few minutes of sunshine too. At that point I had been walking through a rhododendron thicket for about one mile and the trail was muddy and boulder strewn, and the soil was rich black. Huge boulders and slabs of boulders covered the path, with a few short stretches that were just ¢rocky¢. This went on for about three miles. About 2/3 of the way through this stretch I came upon a huge rattlesnake. It was about four feet long with brown and yellow shapes on the middle two feet if its body length, and turning very black for a foot by its head and another foot by its rattles ¢ the rattles looked yellow at the end of a black tail. It was hard to spot in the dark surroundings with black soil. It coiled up, and it rattled, but not real loudly, and it hissed, kind of like you would expect from a cobra, very low pitched and intense. The trail was steep up on the right, with a huge boulder, and on the left my way was blocked by boulders, a large stub of a tree trunk, and thick rhododendrons. I was sort of trapped and it took me 20 minutes to get the snake to move down the trail a little and then off to the left. I prodded him with my hiking pole and he made several strikes at the pole but not at me. I think he was kind of cold, and not real active. Your senses are keen after an experience like that, and everything on the forest floor, on the path, and on both sides began to look like a snake. I paid close attention, and was relieved to eventually get to a wider trail and a more open area. I got some pictures of the snake. I reached this shelter just before 5:00 and have all my evening chores completed. I¢ve eaten, brushed my teeth, hung my bear bag, readied my sleeping bag, changed clothes, and it is about 7:15. I had a time of devotions in Roman¢s 8, and remembered the guy I met doing research. He said the mind punishes the body when the person does something to experience guilt. Romans 8:1 tells us our guilt can be gone if we have a relationship with Jesus. That was appropriate to think about for tonight. It has been sprinkling since I began to write and there is some thunder. Clouds are blowing by in front of the shelter and the weather is closing me in. It looks like I will be alone again tonight, and that is fine with me. There is a very tame rabbit here at the shelter (I got a picture). I recall reading other journals this year that mentioned the rabbit at Jerry Cabin Shelter, and several have pictures almost identical to mine. He just sits out in the grass, eating the succulent blades. I tried to call Marlene several times but cannot get a connection. I called the office to check messages and had seven. After listening to two, plus part of a third, I lost the connection and was unable to get connected again. I check messages there as an alternate source of information if there is some emergency. I will try again tomorrow. I miss Marlene again tonight and hope to be able to call her tomorrow from some high point. I love you Sweetheart. Good night. dp