Date: 2004-04-16
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rock Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: few clouds

Donna's entry: More pages from Ryan-also a couple of phone calls when he passed through towns. He now has the Trail Name Backdraft. Not too hard to figure that one out.....but if you have problems please refer to prior entry about the AYCE Mexican Food Buffet. Patrick has the Trail Name DigDug, like the old video game. This entry was written on the 18th, but goes back to the 16th of April to bring us up to date. He begins somewhere just past Muskrat Creek Shelter and ends April 18th in Franklin North Carolina. Total miles should be 106.8 at this point.Backdraft's Journal entry:(Day 12) I think, let's see, it's been a couple of days since my last entry so let's backtrack. I just tore the first 11 pages of my journal out and sent them home to mom for transcription so I'm not exactly sure where I left off, but, if memory serves, my last entry has me lying in the snow. The weather has done a complete 180 degree to beautifully clear days and nights with highs in the 70's, but it took three days to get there.   The morning of the 16th (Day 09), I woke to ice cold feet even though I was wearing my socks inside my cocoon inside my 20 degree bag inside my tent. The one layer of protection from the cold that I didn't invest in was a full-length pad that would give my legs, from knees to feet, a little added insulation. I think if I had the choice to make over again I'd have gone with a nicer pad, but for now, I'll make do with what I've got.   Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, in my tent in the snow with ice-cold feet. Even though my feet felt like blocks of ice and I felt a very strong urge to get up to go to the bathroom, I curled up into a fetal position inside my sleeping bag until the first rays of the sun cleared the horizon. With the help of the morning sun, I made myself warm by breaking camp, which occurred in record time, and I left the others fumbling around with frozen fingers as I headed North towards Maine and summer.    The day was cold and there was still a great deal of snow on the ground but the trail was already clear of it and there were no more ice projectiles left in the trees. The weather was fairly pleasant as long as I kept moving but if I stayed in one place for more than a few minutes at a time things would get chilly again. This being the case, I hiked 12.5 miles without many stops from Muskrat Creek Shelter to Carter Gap Shelter. I was here by 2:30 and had to wait until 4:30 until Patrick showed up. It was almost 6:00 by the time Dan and Mike showed up.   At this shelter, we spent the evening talking with Thumper, a section hiker from Utah and Larry and Kevin, two middle-aged men out for a weekend away from their jobs and their families. We lounged like lizards on rocks in the sun we hadn't seen for three days, trying to absorb enough heat to make up for the recent miserable conditions and when the sun had set, we built a fire.    Thumper is a girl, several years older than us, though I don't know her age exactly. She is from somewere in Vermont but had been living somewhere in Utah. Her hiking intentions confuse me, but I think she has section-hiked much of the trail already.   Larry and Kevin have known each other since the 5th grade and had a very developed repertoire of verbal banter aimed at making fun of each other. Larry runs a police academy in Florida and Kevin is a high school history teacher and firefighter in Toledo, Ohio. The two of them were among the kindest, most accomodating, and informative adults I've ever had the pleasure of meeting and I thouroughly enjoyed our time together by the fire.   The next morning's (Day 10) hike was a hands-on scramble up the rock-face of Mt. Albert (Fat Albert) to a fire-tower and a 360 degree view at the top. After that, another 12.2 mile day from Carter Gap Shelter to Rock Gap Shelter and another campfire. Again, I arrived 1st and spent much of the afternoon waiting for the others to get in. We stayed the night with Fred and Stephen and went into town 1st thing in the morning.   Fred is just out of highschool in Florida and I'm impressed by the fact that he's here on the trail alone. I'm also impressed with his toughness as I've seen him walk through the snow in shorts on blisters that he does not lance, but let's take their natural cycles.   Stephen is from El Paso, Texas and graduated from Texas A&M class of '03. He wears his Aggie Ring on the trail and he has a great deal of outdoor experience including a Mt. Ranier summitt under his belt.   The next morning (Day 11) we took a short blue-blazed side trail to see the 2nd largest poplar in the U.S. The tree, itself, was mammoth, old, and gnarled like an aging soldier. I truly felt the presence of an ancient soul and was terribly saddened to see the damage and disease brought on by people who carved their names into its trunk compromising the protection of its bark. I think those people should be found and fed their own genitals for what they have done. I also lost my hat somewhere in the area.    From there it was a short trip into town (Franklin NC) and a room at Ronnie Haven's Motel. This would be our 1st zero day as the .04 miles from the shelter to the road was the only hiking accomplished.