Date: 2009-04-04
From: Hot Springs

To: Camp Creek Bald Fire Tower
Miles today: 20.9

We woke up early and had breakfast at the diner. We quickly left town, hoping to make it to Little Laurel Shelter for the night. Whether it was the breakfast burrito or the time off the trail, the first few miles up to Pump Gap were a bit slow and kinda rough. The first mile was a nice walk along the French Broad River until we started to climb. Unplugged and I hiked together for a while, resting by a small pond and then summiting Rich Mt. a few miles later. We climbed the firetower and waited for Jam who was minutes behind. After a quick snack and some photos, we raised the idea of sleeping in the firetower on top of Camp Creek Bald, 1.3 miles past Little Laurel Shelter. We hustled on a bit of a roller coaster until we descended into Allen Gap where we discovered trail magic in the form of 2 Coors Lights and 2 danishes. The three of us split a beer and a danish, leaving the rest for the next hikers. As we continued to the road about 30 yards away, I saw a sign that said "Trail Magic, all you can eat, 350 yards down the road east)." Well, still a bit stuffed from lunch and the beer, we decided we couldn't pass up a bit more food. Plus, we had been making excellent time. Before reaching the house, we took some pictures of the NC and TN border signs. Our hiking has been on a section where our left foot is in TN and right in NC. Oddly though, the trail has had quite a few graves and headstones on it.Anyway, we approached a perfect log house, on a perfect lawn, and knocked on the door. A middle aged couple welcomed us, made us wash our hands and take off our boots, and sat us down at their table. They thru-hiked in '99 and their house was adorned with photos, 2000-miler certifactes and other memories of the hike. They fed us waffles, stew, and banana splits for dessert. It was too perfect! But then, they dropped the bomb on us! They asked us about what sort of truths we believed in--personal or absolute. Knowing we'd say absolute (after some explanation of the terms) they turned the conversation into one about Jesus and accepting him as our personal savior. The old bait and switch! Jam was able to deflect the conversation, but they quickly returned to it, telling us the only way to get to heaven and the truth was through Jesus. I kept quiet but then they offered us religous books to take with us. I said "no thanks" and they asked why. "Well," I said "I'm Jewish," which sparked a whole new conversation where they extolled the virtues of messianic judaism (jews for jesus), the lost tribes, and their trip to Israel. I should have just said I didn't want to carry the extra weight (which other hikers thought of as the next shelter was full of those books). We left, a bit weirded our, but thankful all the same. But really!! Why does all trail magic have to be bible-themed?! Can't I hike without being told Jesus is my one path to salvation? And if you're going to offer food, do it, but don't lure people in with promises and then trick them into talking about religion!Anyway, we started up on a loooong 4 mile ascent to the shelter. No switchbacks, just a long, steep 2100 foot climb. The climbs just kept going and I was getting extremely tired and a bit annoyed. I listened to the Count of Monte Cristo for a bit on my ipod. Some of the readers were great, but a few were just plain awful--either reading in ridiculous voices, mispronouncing wors, or reciting with really thick russian accents. We got to the shelter and continued to press on to the top even though we were exhausted. We discovered earlier that the firetower was fenced off so we found some flat ground off the trail and ate a dry, light dinner (peanut butter tortilla and granola bar for me), set up tents, hung our bear bags, and retreated to our tents were I read and went to bed.