Date: 2009-04-22
From: Winding Stair Gap (Franklin, NC)

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: clear sky

Start - Winding Stair Gap - 107.6End - Wesser Bald Shelter - 129.2Ron Haven dropped us off at 12 noon at the Gap with Todd, Todd's lovable dog Jack, and Allison and Matt. At the beginning of the day, I still had trouble with my blisters because of the new shoes and I even stopped to 'let' the puss out of one by cutting it with my handy knife. At one of the first balds, I had a nice snack with Matt and Allison, but then quickly hiked on with an eagerness of hiking 15-20 miles. After listening to some Barack Obama 'Audacity of Hope' on my iPod, I managed to catch up to Segway (from Maine) again - after having not seen him since Neel's Gap. We hiked together for a short while and then Todd and his dog caught up to us. A few more steps down the trail and we hit our first 'trail magic'. The term 'trail magic' refers to some dear person(s) who help thru-hikers by leaving out water, fruit, cookies, bread, etc. We missed most of the magic, as all that was left was soda pop, ice, and a few lawn chairs that thru-hikers could use as a braek. We talked to someone later who told us that had we been there just a few hours before, we would have been able to indulge in oranges, bananas, Starbucks cappucino, and bread and peanut butter. Oh well, I'll have to wait until next time. Several tough climbs later, we came to Cold Spring Shelter, where I saw JC again and two fellow hikers - Red Lion and Moe. Red Lion was from New Hampshire while Moe was a really energetic girl with cool dreadlocks from Oklahoma City. Moe is a bit of a free spirit, having moved around a lot - most recently living in Portland, Oregon for a few stints and spending some time into the Interior of Alaska. Red Lion seems as if he is a pure outdoorsman, as he took a NOLS course in the Patagonian region of southern Chile and Argentina. I talked and cooked my food before deciding to hike on. I had already done 15 miles, but I wanted to keep going since my body was feeling pretty good. Up until this point, my ankle felt great with the new brace, but hiking onwards probably wasn't the best idea after sitting around during two zero days. For the last few miles, I don't know what happened, but my left knee began hurting. I must be getting old... When I arrived at the Wesser Bald Shelter, I had hiked nearly 22 miles in a very short period of time - roughly 8 hours of hiking in very tough terrain. Not bad at all. While at the shelter, I saw Seeker again and I also met Mark, an older guy from West Virginia, Snail Mail and his home-schooled son, and Gnarly Rudyard. Both Gnarly and Mark had brought their small guitars with them and, after I grubbed my food, I headed out to the fire to join them in conversation and to revel in the joy of being outdoors. As the fire sparked and crackled, they both sang songs merrily and I sat back to enjoy the ambiance on a large log adjacent to the fire. Looking up, you could see millions of stars - probably one of the most beautiful skies I have seen since being in Costa Rica and Switzerland. I couldn't sleep too well in the evening b/c of the frantic mice crawling all over us. I swear - a few jumped up and across my sleeping bag and another one was trying to get into my pack. Eventually, I picked up my pack (which was my sleeping pillow) and placed it on a hook in the shelter. We've heard all sorts of stories so far about the mice. One guy had a nest made inside his back, another guy had his bandanna taken off his head and chewed up, but the best story was a guy who put on his shoes in the morning, started hiking for a few miles and felt that his sock was bunched up in the front. Well, when he took his shoe off his foot at one of the stops, he had quite a surprise - yes, a dead limp mouse inside his boot!!!I'm hoping to go far again tomorrow, but this is still dependent upon my knees, ankle, and blisters. We shall see.