Date: 2005-03-20
From: Nolichucky River (Erwin, TN)

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: broken clouds

Date: 3/20Starting Time: 8:50Starting Location: Nolichucky River (Erwin,TN) Ending Time: 4:25 Ending Location: Cherry Gap ShelterMiles: 16.4Morning Weather: cloudy but warmingAfternoon Weather: sunny and awesomeBreakfast: Blueberry muffins, cinnamon bun Lunch: bars and gorp and Girl Scout cookies Dinner: Lipton and tuna and more GSCTrail Description: What a great day for hiking!!! The weather was great and the trail was beautiful. Coming up out of the Nolichucky Gorge was great...my friend Steve's eyes would have bugged out with all the great streams that fed the river. After the gorge, the trail was easy and flatish until Unaka Mtn. Unaka was great! On top was a deep and dark forest. It shaded the forest floor so that snow was still up there. But the top of that mountain was different than any other than I've been in.People: My Amy, Will and Amy, Apple Pie, Horse riders Animals: A crow floated right beside me for a minute today. He "wooshed" his wings around 170 beats per minute, and cawed with this low-pitched gutteral stutter. It was great. Also, I saw 8 turkeys right before getting to the shelter!Lastly, while cooking dinner 14 horse riders came through. They were taking a short cut home to avoid the dark. Horses are forbidden on the AT in this section, and for good reason. These guys were cantering down the trail and were tearing it up all over the place. However, it was fun (and surreal) to see horses on the trail. One guy I talked to was nearly unintelligible. I've heard my share of southern/redneck accents, but this guy was near the top. Catapult got a picture of me talking to him, so hopefully I can get that up on the site.Money: 0Complaints: left heel hurting a bitThoughts: Many...Leaving Amy is hard. This morning she was tearing up and I was about to weep like a wee girl. Seeing her is so great, but leaving is hard. That's how it is with town, also. Leaving town is hard on the mind. I also thought about why I'm hiking the trail, and specifically why I'm thru hiking. I don't really owe anybody this explanation, but I thought I would share at least part of the "why." I can sum it up like this, a)it's there, b) I want to, and c)I can. First, I thrive on challenges, especially if they involve brute force or hard labor in some way. The trail is there to be hiked and suffering through the whole thing sounds like fun to me. Secondly, I want to. I'm not some college kid killing time, nor am I a retiree or empty nester who is "free at last" to hike (although these are great reasons for doing it). I'm going out of my way to damage my career to do this, and I'm ok with that. Lastly, I have a tremendous support system from Amy, my family, my friends and neighbors, my work colleagues who are supporting me in this endeavor. This, in addition to being of sound body and mind enables me to be able to do this hike (although it ain't done yet).   Lastly, I have some news about the "end of the trail" planning. Amy's joining me as soon as the school year is over (early June) and will hike as long as she can (late July). My goal is to make that period be New Hampshire and Maine, so that she makes Katahdin. I'll have to push to make it and then slow down when she joins, but it's gonna be awesome!