Date: 2015-08-04
From: Darth Maul Shelter...oh wait, Knot Maul

To: Chestnut Knob shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: clear sky

8:30 am, Darth Maul shelter. I feel amazing! I fell asleep with my contacts in, watching the red glowing embers. I slept hard. Only woke up once to the "what was that?!"s. Slept in! And nothing got into my food and I'm having a peanut butter sandwich! The jar is really heavy but this is a real treat. And though the leaves block the view, the shelter is on a hilltop, so it's nice and bright.My last 4 days could have some challenges. Is anyone else out here?7:20 pm, Chestnut Knob shelter. From the name, you'd have no idea how awesome this place is! The description in the AWOL guide gives it no justice: "concrete block shelter, fully enclosed with door." Guthook's guide is better: "the old fire warden's cabin, which has been converted to an enclosed trail shelter." Oh why can't they all be like this? It's lovely! Working windows, a door (you can have food inside!), an indoor picnic table, a closed-over fireplace with a mantle...I feel so protected! I wish UFC and Pilgrim were here to see it. I never wrote about Pilgrim leaving the trail - for safety, I didn't want to announce when I was solo again. Pilgrim came out for 40 days and 40 nights to mirror Christ's time in the wilderness. Pretty cool, huh? On his last night we stayed on the third floor of a shelter, like an attic. It was cool. His folks came out to get him and were so kind to take me out to dinner as well. I'm not sure they got a crack at the Supreme Nachos...Pilgrim and I were eating like rabid wolves. It was a special night and I'm glad I got to see my new friend off. I knew I'd miss him. But it also meant I'd end my journey as I started: on my own. Seemed fitting.Today was a ROUGH climb. I'm lugging so much extra food weight...and then I had to bring up extra water since there's none up here. As I wrote in the shelter log, I basically carried a Volkswagon up here.But this...this was worth it. There's an incredible view of Whoville (as someone called it in the book). And even a feather pen to sign the log with! And a new book to read THAT'S NOT 7 STEPS TO MIDNIGHT!!!Later: I was joined at the shelter by some really neat people...and the first I've seen for days! Unsteady (Eddie), his son Samson (Ben), and his nephew Rock Dumper (Will) all arrived on a short hiking trip. Eddie and I sat on the edge of the grassy mountain, looking out onto the beautiful town below. Because he's local, he could tell me stories and history about what I was looking at. We were on part of a ring of mountains around the secluded town of Burkes Garden. From the air, the ring and depression look like someone pressed down on the area with a thumb, hence the area's nickname: God's Thumbprint.The soil is incredibly rich and crops grow really well there. Instead of road names , there are signs that point to where different families live.One of the boys hung his hammock, the other cowboy camped out in the meadow (and was visited by snorting deer in the middle of the night!). Eddie and I retired to the shelter. He'd had a bad night there once in winter, when it was miserably cold and they were at the mercy of mice. But this was different - no mice, warm weather.I was so happy, lying in my bunk with my head propped with a makeshift pillow, reading Ishmael by Daniel Quinn (found it in the shelter) by the light of the window.Eventually it was hiker midnight. And somehow Eddie and I got to talking about Gatlinburg, as you do, and laughing until falling asleep.