Date: 2005-04-06
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

When I got to the shelter last night,I was the only one there, so I decided to set up in the shelter. But by the time it was dark he shelter was completely full.One gentleman came in late. He was, to put it mildly, was interesting. He wanted to know what my altimeter said and he said that was incorrect, then he asked what the map said and he said the map was wrong too, I finally showed him on the data book then he begrudgingly agreed.So this guy walked in and started talking, he sat his fat ass on MY sleeping bag and put his sleeping bag near mine, at that point he kept talking, and talking, and talking. Seeing how the shelter was full and there were a couple of known snorers (myself included) in the shelter, I went ahead and made room in the back of the shelter, I pitched the tent without the fly. This morning I was told I was the smartest guy in the shelter because everyone else regretted being in the shelter last night between all the snoring and this 'gentleman', who they decided to nickname 'Night Talker'. Apparently, not only did he keep on talking into the night, he apparently talked in his sleep as well.Last night, I was the last one to get to bed. There was no moon and the sky was almost pitch black except for the lights in Helen, Georgia, which were just beautful, I layed watching that. Also, Pacemaker, who I mentioned before, packed up the rest of the beers and sodas to the shelter for us, and he said that he'd prefer that someone drink it because he didn't want to pack it with him. I felt it my duty to stay up and help him get rid of the last 2 beers. It was my obligation, my part of HIS trail magic was to finish his beers and crush the cans and take them with me. Besides, it kind of helped with the calorie count. So, I got in after everyone had gone to bed (except Night Talker).At any rate, I got up early again this morning and got rolling at about 7:35 with Vern right behind me. Vern caught up to me about a half hour later and for the next few hours we traded the lead on the hike. We went pretty fast. We got 5.39 miles by 9:30 down to Addis Gap where they had the 'Feast in the Forest'. Today was the last day. They were still serving. We each got real good scrambled eggs the girl had scambled them with cheddar cheese and onions. We also had sweet tea and apples and we offered ourselves up to also get grilled cheese sandwiches.We stayed down at the 'Feast in the Forest' for about an hour and fifteen minutes. They had quite a bunch of stuff left over, a 50 pound sack of onions, potatoes, apples and oranges left over, so we helped to bring it back up the hill. They have been doing this for 12 years from March 30th until April 6th. This year, they said the turnout was really low, probably due to the weather, the rain and the snow, not many people showed up.Although I suspect that the weather delayed the time to start the Appalachian Trail for many people. The Trail has been almost deserted. I have yet to have anyone pass me other than Vern. I have passed maybe a dozen people at the most. I see very few Thru-Hikers compared to the amount last time.We got out of there at 10:40 and I started my run down here to the blueberry patch at Hiawasee. I would have gotten here alot sooner. I was figuring I'd get here by about 1 o'clock, get out and take a shower, do my laundry, and go ahead and start hiking to the next shelter, but that's not going to happen.Number 1: This road is famous for being en 'easy hitch'- So much for that. I hiked a good 2 miles before I got a ride and the only reason I got a ride was because they almost ran me over as I stepped across their driveway. At that point I asked them for a ride and they dropped me off at the blueberry patch. So, I lost time on that. Then, I got here and the owner is gone, he's probably running a shuttle into town with the rest of the hikers. I don't know how long until he gets back, I guess it's a couple of hours. But, I can't do anything in terms of laundry or a shower. I'm going to see about tenting in the back tonight. It's already 2:00 and I can't get out of here before dark and finish my stuff so I'm just going to go ahead and take it easy.I was planning on taking a zero day today, but Im not going to. I'll hang out here tonight and in the morning I'll hike out again.Must have been 40 cars that passed me on this road, a road famous for hitch-hiking. I never got one, I suspect its the same reason as before, I get mistaken for Tommy Chong alot and that can't be to my benefit in Northern Georgia. It doesn't work in my favor. At any rate, I got a couple of Cokes for a .50 cent donation each. I'm hanging out and waiting for the owner to get here. At 2:00, the owner of the bluberry patch showed up with a few hikers he had been driving around. He showed me around. Showed me the showers and the bathroom, which were in a separate building out back. He's a really nice guy. Despite the fact that they had a bunk left, I told him that I wanted to pitch a tent out back. He showed me a spot to pitch between the rows of blueberry 'trees' that had probably been there for 35 years. There's probably a couple of hundred bushes. Every August, when the blueberries mature, he lets the general public come in and pick blueberries for $1 a pound or $5 a gallon. He just leaves a bucket outside and people throw in the money by the Honor System.Everything here is done by the honor system. There's a little can in the refridgerator for the donations for the Cokes you take out. There's another can outside with all the Coleman fuel and alcohol fuel, if you take any fuel. The people are wonderful, the owners are Gary and Lenny. Gary is, I think, a Baptist Minister, at Macedonia Baptist Church at Hiawasee. He is a very dedicated, religious man. I'm not very religious myself, but, it's heartening to see the conviction he has. I sat and talked to him while I was here. He went to church and some of the other hikers went with him.Some of the other hikers are "Sam I Am" and "Oragami" a couple from Colorado in very good shape. I saw them doing Tai Chi outside of Walasi-Yu. And "Bottle Rocket" (Formerly "Salty Red Beard") stayed here too, and Elizabeth "SaxyLady" (I guess she plays a sax) from Raliegh N.C. There's an older, VERY intelligent gentleman called "Brew-Meister" and "Mr. Fusion" and another man who's Trail name I can't remember was at the hostel tonight. We stayed in the hostel and had good conversations.            After Gary had shown me around the place, he said I could throw my laundry in a basket outside and he would take care of it. I went and took a shower and changed into my rain clothes, which were the only other clothes I had with me. I went through $4.00 worth of cokes and I decided to save the things I got in my mail drop so I scrounged up some chicken and broccolli noodles, cheese doodles and some other stuff.It was a wonderful evening, we talked about all kinds of things.At 11 o'clock I went to bed.