Date: 2009-03-20
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Sapphire Inn, Franklin, NC
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: clear sky

Fri, Mar 20, Day 10: This morning I got up early and hiked 3.8 miles down to Wallace Gap, then 560 vertical feet up and over one ridgeline, then the same distance back downhill to the trailhead at Winding Stair Gap, arriving 0900. I wanted to catch the first shuttle into Franklin. There the local Baptist church set up a little Trail Angel stand offering hikers snacks and potato chips, hot coffee, tea, cocoa. It was just a fantastic experience. Trail Magic from the local Baptist church. After partaking of their trail hospitality I caught a free hiker¢s shuttle operated by Ron Haven. He runs a couple of motels in Franklin, NC and provides shuttle service for hikers. I¢m staying at one of his motels tonight, the Sapphire Inn. Not only did Ron shuttle me into Franklin, but he took me to locations where I was able to do laundry, catch a hot shower, and clean up. Then he came back at 5:00 pm to shuttle hikers around for provisioning at the local grocery store, the dollar store, and an outfitter. Anyplace you wanted to be able to go Ron was able to take you. The Thru-Hiker's Handbook says Ron is a "great friend to hikers." They are spot on - he's a fantastic person, a real country boy, hiker, and all around good guy. He is a former wrestler who went by the names Mr. X I & II, The Great Apollo, and The Grand Astronomer. He's traveled all over; now he owns two motels plus is on the Town Board. I slept good in a real bed, after eating way too much McDonalds and Mexican Food for supper. Gotta have fuel!Equipment Notes: It¢s gotten cold, down well past freezing for the past couple of hiking nights. So far the sleeping bag is holding up nicely. I¢ve got the 15 degree Marmot Helium bag which has kept me pretty warm - I haven¢t yet used the silk liner. The biggest craze on the trail as far as food goes is people are taking Stove Top stuffing mix and separating the contents into a couple of freezer quart Ziploc bags. Then whenever they are ready to eat it's simple to boil some water, pour it in the bag, and let it sit five minutes. Add a protein like packaged chicken or tuna and BAM! - you¢ve got a Thanksgiving Feast. One more tale worth telling: I meet two hikers from Israel, Yawny and Shy. These young gentlemen, somewhere after leaving Neels Gap, were eating in camp and saw a bear saunter through the camp about a bus length away from them. They started making noises (to scare the bear off) and the bear didn¢t pay them any mind. Later that night the bear found their food bag and cooking equipment and was able to snatch it out of the tree! So they didn¢t have any food OR cooking gear for that day and had to hitch a ride back into town to reprovision. So that¢s the second hiker I¢ve heard of who¢s had food stolen. Thank goodness it hasn¢t happened to anybody that I¢ve been hiking with. In the morning my plan is to catch the 8:30 am shuttle back to the trailhead at Winding Stair Gap. I don¢t know how long I¢m going to make it but we¢ll see, the weather¢s nice and it should be a good day for hiking. Soon the AT goes through the Smokies which I hear has the highest density of black bear in the country. Stay tuned, should be some more good stories to tell! Click here for audio journal