Date: 2004-02-20
From: Davenport Gap (unnamed woods road)

To: Roaring Fork shelter
Miles today: 20.9
Weather: clear sky

Log entry: 20Start time: 1015Stop time: 2000Morning weather: cool but sunny, above freezingAfternoon weather: mild and sunny, mid 50s maybeEvening weather: clouds blew in and wind picked up, cool on Max Patch but very pleasant to hike inBreakfast: cupcakes, probably about dozen of themLunch: cupcakesDinner: Lipton noodles, chicken broccoli then later on fruit cup, apple sauce, chocolate frosting, hot chocolateTail description: Long climb out of the gap and up to Snowbird Mt. Some more good climbs to follow. A little confusing after Max Patch, partly due to fading light and lots of stream crossings. Fun. Muddy most places, very icy too in spots.People: Curtis, Mountain Momma, and the SolematesWildlife: tweety birds, squirrels, Spits the rottweiler, an ant! (1st bug of the season), and I figure between 40 and 100 bear once it got dark and I put my headlamp on.Money spent: $30 (15 stay, 9 for the pizza, and 6 for various shuttles.)Complaints: hunger, missing my family, legs were achy, on the whole nothing serious.Thoughts: the Solemates and I all woke up about the same time, 0730. We all had million dollar nights sleep. The beds in the cabin, though only box springs we decided, felt fabulous. The 5 quilts kept me toasty warm even though the cabin is unheated, at this time. Curtis is working on it. Over the course of the next hour I enjoyed the warmth and comforts of the bed but also began to pack up my things. All the while munching on plain golden yellow cupcakes, compliments of Maria. I am pretty sure they were store boughtenbecause they were shrink wrapped in a large flat box. The Solemates were ready to hike around 0900 or so and I was too, but needed to wait until at least 0930 to see if my mail drop from Fontana had made it yet to Mountain Momma¢s. So I dragged my feet and talked with Curtis till around 0945 when I called Mt Momma¢s only to find out that the mail had arrived but my package had not. So I planned on leaving money and an address with her to forward it on to Erwin, TN. That¢s 9 days away, plenty of time I figure. I can't remember exactly what was in the box. I think just 3 days of food and my maps. I don't remember if I threw some gear in there or not.   So Curtis dropped me off just after Mt Momma¢s and I walked in just like I had camped up the road. I gave Mt Momma¢s Miss Janet's address and we settled our business. Mtn Momma¢s really took care of me. I have no complaints. Then Curtis dropped me off back at Davenport Gap where I had walked the road to Mountain Momma¢s. All my gear except for the daypack and some misc gear items were left at standing Bear and I planned on "slack packing" it the 2.7 miles back to the farm. I am glad I didn't skip this part of the trail. It meanders a while along some fast flowing streams. Plus it was a sunny and warm day. I covered the 2.7 in a little under a half hour. Yes, I did run most of it. It was fun flying through the woods without 40 lbs on your back. Once back at the farm I packed up, settled up, left a message at home, and shot the bull with Curtis till 1230. A lot later than I wanted to start since I had about 19 miles to go. The weather was warm and I pulled hard up the long climb up Snowbird Mt. I was able to average a hair over 3 mph, of which I was happy with. Especially on a climb like that. I was rewarded with sweet views from the balds of snowbird. It looked like weather was blowing in so I beat feet down the trail. I made it to Groundhog Creek shelter at 1400. From Green Corner Rd where I started at 1230, I covered 7.2 miles in 2.5 hours. I am happy with that since about 5.5 of that was on climbs. Pressing onward I was able to maintain 3 mph until I came to the stream crossing at mile 250.4 where I met the Solemates packing up after dinner. We both had the same plan. Eat before it gets dark then push on to roaring fork. So we said farewells and I quickly boiled water for my Lipton and also nailed 4 more cupcakes. In the process also zipped long pants on and a long sleeve shirt. The sun was now behind clouds and the wind was brisk in spots. It took about a half hour for me to eat and clean up! I had renewed energy after the meal but my legs had grown quite stiff after the stop. They warmed up after the short climb up Max Patch and soon were a non-issue.Max Patch is a huge, I mean big, grassy bald. It¢s at about 5000 feet and offers just great views. I think if there were ever sledding world championships, they would be held here. I was able to watch storms roll through the southern Smokies. Truly breath taking. I added it to the list of places to take the wife/girlfriend someday. Just not together of course (joke). This may be the coolest spot on the AT so far, and you can drive up to it, bonus. Once clear of the bald I slid the headlamp on. The trail follows and crosses numerousStreams for the next 5 miles to the shelter. I slipped and skidded most of the way without major incident. God was definitely watching over me as it seemed that each time I would stumble or skid there was tree handy to steady me. I began to wonder if I came back tomorrow if those same trees would even be there anymore.As I walked alone in the dark I kept thinking that I was seeing things move in front of me. I have no choice but to assume they were all really bears. By 20:00 I ambled into roaring fork shelter where the Solemates applauded my arrival. The weather was very mild and I wondered if i will be sweating bullets tonight. We'll see I guess. I grabbed a mystery packet of something out of the hiker box from Standing Bear, I figured it looked like pudding. I opened it about half hour ago and it smelled like Jello. So I boiled some water and mixed it in my mug. We'll see what tomorrow brings...