Date: 2005-09-07
From: Rocky Mountain

To: Dicks Creek Gap (Hiawassee, GA)
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

Last night I finally got a good night's sleep in the woods. I think I slept at least 9 1/2 hours. It felt great. After breaking camp and heading on my merry way, I followed up on yesterday's promise to keep a list of sites seen and thoughts had. Here it is: 1. I want to go to town2. These songs are stuck in my head3. Do I smell bear?4. So many holes and noises, but where are the woodpeckers?5. Why didn't Mother Nature make more clearings around here?6. A cool optical illusion 7. My new invention8. Bird sightings9. Baby on Board10. Multiply all miles >10 by 211. Hitchhiking12. Life's luxuriesI imagined stacking all of these points in a teetering pile, so I could remember them in order. (See, the Dale Carnegie course is good for something!) It worked pretty well, but then again, I had an entire day's worth of mental energy to devote to this. So this entry doesn't get too long, I'll just explain my list quickly.1. I was preoccupied all day with the desire to take a shower. I experience new and different self-scents that I was not at all happy with. The Holiday Inn Express in Hiawassee has delivered on that promise, even with a Jacuzzi tub! 2. I seem to have a song stuck in my head each day. Today, the selection was "I'm flying" from Peter Pan. Yesterday, Beethoven's Ode to Joy. I tried to force myself to fixate on a song whose words I actually knew, but it didn't work. 3. About an hour into the hike, I decided that I smelled a bear. I can't describe why I had that conviction though -- there was no evidence of one besides the strange olfactory sensation of one particular stretch of path. 4. I constantly pass by holes in trees, in the dirt of the path, and under rocks. But I have yet to see a creature emerge from one of them. The woodpeckers especially irk me because I can hear them too.5. This hike would be very different if there were more clearings and vistas to give a sense of perspective to the hike. Just as I was contemplating the natural reasons for lack of open, grassy patches, I came upon one. Of course, it had been appropriated as a campsite. I moved on, only to realize later that that small patch was also an official point of interest -- the site of a 19th century cheese factory. No signs of its existence remain, but maybe that clearing wasn't so natural after all... 6. I noted that if I walk forward at a steady pace for 20 minutes or more, then stop to look at distant scenery, it appears to be receding toward a convergence point. An interesting side effect of the constant "green tunnel" I'm hiking in. 7. I decided that Google Maps and a camera company should team up to create integrated map/photo albums. The camera company can sell cameras with embedded GPS devices that automatically insert the coordinates into the metadata for each digital picture. Then when you upload your travel pictures, you can see them laid out on a map. (This invention would surely save me from the trouble I'll have explaining all my mountain view pictures.) 8. I saw several chicken-sized grouses flying into trees in a panic as I approached, but was never able to photograph them. I also kept my eyes out for the Canada Warbler, for which Tray Mountain is its southernmost American nesting site. I definitely saw some birds with distinctive calls there, but couldn't identify or photograph them. 9. I passed one couple while hiking today, and the woman had a Baby Bjorn carrier in which a baby happily rode and pointed at me. That was a tough section of the trail, and I was impressed.10. The first 10 miles today passed in a blur, in about 4 hours despite a 1000+ foot ascent and rocky descent. But the last 5 miles took so long that I kept thinking I had misread the guidebook or missed prominent landmarks. I think I'll assume from now on that every mile after 10 takes twice as long. 11. I had to hitchhike today, since the one hostel in town is not open in the fall. At first I just kind of stood by the road, inspecting passing cars. Then I tried to hold out my thumb, but quickly retract it if an 18-wheeler came along. Finally I just did it, and a nice old couple of ex-hikers stopped. While I had been afraid that only 350-pound single males would stop, it turned out to be a rather frail old couple! They were so nice, they drove me right to the door of the hotel and treated me like it was an honor to meet me. Wow. 12. I have really learned to appreciate small things like laundry, showers, milkshakes, burgers, and food upgrades (tropical trail mix and Cookies and Cream Pop Tarts). Life is so easy for townies!