Date: 2006-03-25
From: Deep Gap (Franklin)

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: broken clouds

I checked out of the Haven Motel and waited with the others for the shuttle. I would have to wait until after the main shuttles to Winding Stair Gap returned before I could get my special shuttle to Deep Gap, so it would likely be close to noon.The shuttle wasn't full this morning, so I went on the grand tour. We drove to the Sapphire Motel (Ron's other Franklin motel) and picked up another hiker, and headed off to Winding Stair Gap. We dropped off Brains and Brawn and two others, then drove around to Wallace Gap and Rock Gap, where we dropped off a couple with two chocolate labs.Lone Wolf was also along for the ride, and he, Ron and I all walked up to Rock Gap Shelter. There were three youngsters there, and one came back with us to buy supplies in Franklin.Ron had a couple shuttles to do, but Lone Wolf offered to drive me up to Deep Gap for him. Everything happened quickly, and suddenly we were off. Lone Wolf stopped at Hardee's for me and I bought a steak burrito and a large coffee. I finished both by the time we reached Deep Gap, not hard as it took us about an hour to get there. The road up was in good condition, but a little scary.When I put my backpack on, the hip belt was about two inches too short. I guess being able to eat for the past couple days put a little meat - okay, fat - back on.We talked a little, but about 11:15, I waved good-bye. Lone Wolf headed down the road and I went up the hill.It was cold, high 30's and snowing a bit. The ground was snow covered, but the trail was beaten down by those who had traveled by already.The trail went gradually up to Standing Indian Mountain. It was a long climb, about 1200 feet, but it was over two and a half miles, so the slope was fairly gradual. A good part of the trail was on an old road bed.The trail got steeper towards the top, but I was doing okay. I'd been taking medicine for five and a half days, and had four and a half days to go. Definitely not there yet, but definitely on the mend.As I went up, it got colder. The thing to remember was that although I was hiking north in the general Georgia-to-Maine sense, I was actually hiking due south. Because of a disagreement between the North Carolina and Georgia AT maintaining clubs, the trail does an odd loop here as it must connect the points where the Georgia AT wanted the trail (near Plumorchard Gap) and where the North Carolina Club wanted the trail (near Carter Gap south of Albert Mountain). Although Carter Gap is only a few hundred yards from Georgia, the trail loops miles to the north to stay on the high ridges and then turns south again to reach Plumorchard Gap via Bly Gap. It all works out very well, but does result in some hikers rebelling and cutting off the loop and taking a "short cut" from Deep Gap directly to Rock Gap via the Kimsey Ridge Trail and the Standing Indian Campground Road.Be that as it may, I was hiking up Standing Indian Mountain on the north slope, and the snow was getting deeper. It started snowing harder, until I could no longer make out footsteps in the trail ahead of me.Hiking uphill was easier than it had been, so I know the Amoxicillin was doing its job on me. I was still stuffed up though, and still coughing a lot.Another by-product of hiking uphill was that I kept warm, though I did notice my arms getting cold even in my thermals. Also, the bite valve on my Platypus froze a couple times. Each time, I was able to clear it by leaving it in my mouth for a moment, then sucking hard.It was cold and windy on the top of Standing Indian, and no views through the blowing snow, so I started down. It was warmer on the south slope, and the temp went up to 36, then 39 nice degrees.That didn't last long, as the sun started to set, and it wasn't long before my bite valve was freezing again.I reached Carter Gap about 4:30, and it was cold. Very cold. There was one space left in the shelter, and I took it. A local college outing group had taken over the tenting area with about a dozen tents. They had a fire going, though I didn't visit it.I got my stove going, and cooked a 2 ounce mashed potato package, liberally enhanced with bacon bits. It was very cold and I ate hurriedly because the food was cooling quickly. It was cold long before I finished.I ate it all, a good feeling as I had not been eating well on the trail so far. I put some water into the pot and scraped the potato bits off the sides of the pot, making a slurry, which I drank. I repeated the process, which is called "drinking your dishwater," and ended up with a clean pot and no dishwater or food bits to throw away.My next meal, before I cook, I will wash my hands with a bacterial wipe, then wipe out my pot and the spoon with the same wipe, making everything clean before eating again. I didn't have to do it before this meal as I had washed everything at the motel.My hands were numb with cold, so I put my heavy vapor barrier gloves on. The three youngsters (mid-twenties) got into their bags about five o'clock, but I wasn't ready for that yet. When my hands warmed up, I hung my bear bag. There were no bear cables here, so I had to find a branch. Most everyone had used the area below the shelter, and so did I. I was wearing my raingear top for warmth, and caught it on a briar. Made a light tear, but down low so it shouldn¢t affect its function.I hung the bag on a smaller branch than the others, and tied it off to a tree where two others had tied theirs off, but higher up the tree than they had tied their lines. Bears sometimes find the tie-off lines and slice them with their claws. Fine, hopefully if they do, they will be lazy bears and slice the lower lines, and leave mine alone.North Carolina bears are supposedly very smart and have learned that backpacks equal food. More than one hiker has evidently lost his backpack when he set it on the ground to use the privy. Wow, that would bum me out. Come out of the privy and find your pack is gone.About six o'clock it was too cold to stay out, so I took a last pee and crawled into my sleeping bag. I hung my pack on a nail in the back of the shelter, safe from bears but not mice. I kept out my headlamp, my emergency bivy, and chemical heaters.My watch, with its built-in thermometer, unfortunately was still attached to my pack, so I don't know how cold it got.But it got cold. I didn't warm up in the bag, so I put a pair of toe warmers on my feet (they have tape which sticks to socks), and a pair of handwarmers in my gloves. Then, because it was easier to do now than later, I undid my bivy, which is a kind of heavy duty space blanket. I didn't put my bag inside, as that might have been overkill, but laid it over my bag like a blanket.About nine o'clock I got up to pee. It was pretty cold, but I warmed up fine when I got back into my bag. I woke up again about 2:30, needing to pee again, but it wasn't urgent, and my nose was about frozen. I didn't want to get out of my bag so I decided to just wait it out.I woke up at 4:30 (I had my cell phone next to me to tell time). I was dreaming that I was peeing. There was a moment of panic then. As a kid I would sometimes dream that I was peeing and invariable woke up having peed the bed. It would be very bad to pee in a down bag on a night as cold as this. A quick check showed I was okay, and I quickly got up and peed.Back in my bag, unable to sleep, I heard something big walking around the back of the shelter. It is a standard backpacking joke that a chipmunk will make so much noise in dead leaves that it sounds like a rhinoceros wandering around. However, the reverse is not true. The first time you hear something big in the dark, you KNOW it is big, and that it is NOT a chipmunk.I figured it was a bear, and had it been warmer, I would have gotten my camera out, but it was too cold and I just listened to it walk around. It was moving under the foodbags. I listened, but did not hear the shaking of trees, so I figured it wasn't trying to get our food. It wandered along the side of the shelter and around the front. I looked, but though I could hear it clearly, I could see nothing.Then suddenly I could no longer hear anything, and I fell asleep.