Date: 2015-04-12
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: I-40 at Pigeon River Bridge
Miles today: 17.0

Today is Monday and it's the first time the Sherpa has had a moment to share the Iceman's adventures with you. Yesterday after a harrowing drive on Tobes Creek Road, a gravel one lane road that went on for miles at a 10% grade with no turnouts in case another car was coming from the other directions, and then a mile or two on, I'll bet you guessed it, a very winding road there was Trail Magic, I finally reached Davenport Gap. The total drive was one hour plus. Boy was I happy to see hikers and those generous souls giving them food and drink! This was the place where the Iceman was to be at around 4pm. It was only 2:30 and the folks giving out the goodies invited me to sit with them. At 3:30, 8 hours after the Iceman started on his hike, he walked down through the still leafless trees on the brown rocky trail into the group that were welcoming all and was offered food and drink but the only thing he wanted was a very cold soft drink to quench his thirst. At the Tri-Corner Knob shelter he and 7 others were tenting because the shelter was full. They were not able to tent near the shelter because the ground wasn't flat enough so they had to camp about 100 yards away at the horse pen. This is where horses tie up. It was an area of about 50'x 50' not all usable and maybe you can guess why. Think horses and what they do when they're tied up??? So the Iceman and the others after pitching tents built a fire to keep warm. It was getting very cold so after gathering dry wood, which took awhile, it has been raining almost everyday, they finally got the fire going and they all huddled around it til it was time to bed down. He wasn't able to stay warm that night, not warm enough cloths, and the temperature probably dipped into the 30's. Up early, a few pieces of fruit and it was time to start for Davenport Gap. It was a mostly downhill hike. The photo here is one taken the day before he got to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter. Both days were warm in the afternoon and sunny so the view from every mountain top was a Kodak Moment. When he reached Davenport Gap he decided to go on another 1.6 miles to the bridge over the Pigeon River. This would bring him closer to Interstate 40, an easier place to drop him off, and it was still early in the day, so another 1.6 miles was doable. That was it! Time to take a day off so today is a zero day for the Iceman. We spent the day driving around looking at the best route for me to take to Max Patch, the next place I'm to pick him up after his 14 mile hike tomorrow. It's a 3000' climb in 7 miles. That's steep! Can he do it in one day? He's apprehensive so he'll take all of his camping gear and food in case he has to tent. That's a heavy pack but better to be safe than sorry. And it's supposed to rain all week. We found another excellent restaurant in Waynesville, NC called the Blue Rooster. It's in a strip mall nearby and we decided to try it since Tripadvisor liked it. We knew immediately that the chef was trained. The best Southern Fried Chicken ever with fried green tomatoes that were light and feathery and mashed potatoes with gravy. YUM, YUM! Turns out that it's a husband and wife team and both went to culinary school, all though we don't know which one. The Iceman needs a lot of strength to do the hike tomorrow so we MUST go out again to dinner and sample another one of North Carolina's wonderful restaurants.