Date: 2006-05-21
To: Chris' Notes - On The Trail (3) With Old Goat
Miles today: 0.0

Chris' Entry________________________________________________________________This day had me concerned at first. We had planned 16.1 miles, which equates to about 8+ hours of continuous hiking. I've hiked/exercised for about 5 hours max before, so 8+ concerned me. I felt good most of the day, but about 2 hrs from the end (3-4 miles to go) my feet were hurting and I really started to wear out. Early on we were walking and stumbled upon a Guinness in a stream ("trail magic"). Considering neither of us wanted to carry it 10+ miles and/or carry the bottle that far, we left it, but it was neat to see. After that we met 3 women whom were taking an annual trip to section hike part of the AT. Annually they did that together because their husbands had no real interest in it. I thought that was great that they got out there. In talking to them my dad realized he had something in common with one woman, whose husband is also in the Air National Guard. Just before lunch at a road crossing we were debating whether to get water at the stream when a guy in his truck offered us cold bottled water ("trail magic" or "yogi-ing"= getting food as if you were Yogi the bear). We had a nice long talk and he mentioned waiting for his wife, she has a white dog. My dad had seen her 2x already, so we asked if that was her. It was! Apparently she had read some book about a woman named "Grandma Gatewood" who hiked the entire AT in 1955 in her tennis shoes. She liked the story so much that she decided to hike the entire AT also. So in 1996 she started section hiking the AT and when we saw her she was about to complete the entire AT from Georgia to Harpers Ferry, WV, generally considered to be the half way point. He said he drops her off in the mornings and goes fishing, to flea markets, and to historical sites then picks her up at night. They are from Mississippi and were the cutest couple. I applaud them for doing that. Read more about Grandma Gatewood here:http://www.hockinghills.com/i_grandm.htmFor lunch we stopped at Humpback Mountain. Given cell signals are hard to find we made some calls while in sight of a resort on the opposing peak. We also saw the woman and her dog again and had a short chat.Mid day we were hiking downhill at a good rate when I heard, then saw, a rattlesnake in front of me. I think I got within about 6 feet of it when I turned around then slammed into my dad in retreat. I had my heart rate monitor on and wished I had looked down to see how high it spiked. I missed that, but it must have been high. We took some photos then climbed in the woods to circumvent the snake, which had not moved. We arrived at the shelter around 5:30. What really amazed me was how my dad just stopped, relaxed for a few minutes, and then was as good as new. I was dead tired, hurting and in no condition to do much more. His stamina is incredible, especially considering he does that day in/day out, sometimes as much as 20+ miles in a day. Words cannot truly portray what he is accomplishing. Very few people in are in the shape he's in now, me included.Shortly after we arrived another thru hiker arrived. He goes by "Sir Lancelot the Brave". Dad had already met him so they caught up. He told us that the 3 ladies had said we were about 20 minutes ahead (about 6 hrs before) and he spent the whole day trying to catch us, he never did. I felt good that I was truly keeping a thru-hiker pace. He said he also saw the lady and dog, but the dog had fallen off a cliff right in front of him and hurt it's paw. Knowing we should see her again the following day we were concerned for her dog. --ChrisThe White blaze of course, Dad hiking up Stairway to Heaven - Click picture to see full sizeRattlesnake I almost stepped on- Click picture to see full size