Date: 2003-06-08
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: light rain

A relatively short day ¢ just a little over 12 miles. I would have preferred to go a couple of miles more, but here in the Smokies you have to stay in the shelters. That will make tomorrow 15+ miles to Davenport Gap Shelter. We were at Icewater Spring Shelter overnight and there was a deer grazing in the grass out front all night. It was very tame, curious as I would stir in my sleeping bag, and not afraid. Typical for me, I have been sleeping from about 8:30 p.m. until about 2:00 a.m. and then tossing the remainder of the night, so I watched ¢the deer in the mist¢ until just before daylight. He probably did not graze during the day yesterday due to the heavy rains, so he made up for it overnight. It was an interesting experience to hear his crunch, crunch, crunch, softly in the clearing out front, and in the dim, misty, night. But somehow there was enough light for me to see him, just barely. We left the shelter around 7:30 this morning and quickly approached the area around Charlie¢s Bunion. There was a break in the clouds, partly cloudy I¢d say, and it made for beautiful views from the high ridges as the sun shone between clouds over the deep valleys and distant (and closer) peaks. Charlie¢s Bunion was an awesome place and I got pictures. It is a series of high rocky ledges and outcroppings, with steep cliffs down to totally wooded mountainsides below. Well worth the effort to take a short side trail to experience it. As the day wore on it became completely cloudy again with the wind blowing the mists across the high and narrow ridges. Much of today was spent walking along atop connecting ridges which in some places were only four to six feet wide, with deep drops on either side, many hundreds of feet and nearly straight down the steep sides. Vegetation and small trees clung to these tough footholds, but the foothold could not support larger trees, so when they grew to a certain size, typically they would fall, throwing up a large, thin, and very shallow root ball, with soil and small rocks clinging to the root system. I came to the Peck¢s Corner Shelter trail around 11:30 and waited for Al. When he arrived we discussed going to the shelter for lunch, and since the sign said only 2/10 mile to the shelter, we decided to stop and rest there. It was down hill all the way and seemed like a long, long 2/10 mile. Sure enough, the guidebook said it was 5/10 mile. It was a very tough climb back up to the AT after eating a big lunch and getting lazy! Actually, most of this trip has been on a section of the trail climbing and traversing ridges. When I reach a gap, I know that a climb to some mountain top or ridge line is likely, and when I can, I try to guess the direction the trail will take and which ridge I will climb. Sometimes I can mark the trail as a faint line slowly angling up the side of the ridge, and guess where the trail will reach the top. As I was hiking along today, I noticed a rocky outcrop a long way above and off in the distance maybe two miles, and it looked like the trail was climbing toward that point. Sure enough, I eventually found myself on a slightly uphill slant, angling to the point on the ridgeline where the rocks were visible. As I approached the top, I saw the dump truck sized boulder on the right side of the trail ahead, and it looked like beyond the boulder was a small grassy clearing. It¢s nice to reach the top and anticipate an easier hike along the ridge line for awhile without a lot of climbing. I came up to the boulder at my right hand while I was pondering these things, and suddenly a bear cub ran from just beyond the boulder, crossed the trail ahead of me and climbed a tree about 15 feet to the left of the trail. Almost simultaneously another cub scooted across the trail from the partly hidden grassy clearing, about 50 feet beyond me, and climbed another tree, also left of the trail. All this action took about two seconds and my footsteps had taken me past the end of the boulder so I could view the whole clearing. I looked a little to the right, across the grassy space and about 40 feet away, and found myself looking into the unhappy eyes of Momma Bear. Many things go through your mind at a time like this, and many hikers have anticipated this kind of event, but it catches you a little off guard at first. I thought about not getting between the bear and her cubs. I thought about not appearing to look aggressive. I thought about making easy, deliberate moves rather than quick and sudden ones. Your mind works pretty fast in this kind of situation. The bear was agitated, and I felt like she could think that I was closer to the first cub than she was, and that she might not like that. She did not charge me, but instead moved back and forth and a little forward toward me, but mostly she was standing up slightly and getting back down, and pawing at the ground and making noises. I began to take slow steps backwards, but that soon put me in a position where I could not see the bear, and that was a somewhat uncomfortable feeling to say the least. There was no easy way to peek around the boulder from the opposite side, or get on top of the boulder, so the trail was my only view into what was happening. I continued to back away, and could still see the first cub up in the tree, but my view to the second cub was obscured by tree branches. I heard something to my right, and it was above me since I had now backed down from the crest of the ridge somewhat. The boulder lay ahead, and the terrain to my right and before the boulder was not impassible, but pretty rocky and covered with thick underbrush. I felt very uncomfortable not knowing where the bear was, but decided to stay back and see what she would do. I was listening intently for sounds to my right, since if she came toward me from the front, I could see her easily on the open trail. I continued to hear heavy sounds and some twig snapping kind of noises above and to the right, and backed down the trail some more. What to do. I was not in a hurry to hike on if it meant hiking into the clearing where the cubs were. My immediate concern was not knowing where the big bear was or what she was doing. The terrain to the left of the trail was pretty steep downhill and treacherous, but maybe not impossible to navigate. However, I did not know what the bear would think of me moving around in the neighborhood of her cubs, even if I went down below their trees and beyond them from her vantage point in the clearing. But where was she? I heard more noises from above me on the ridge, some of them pretty loud, and getting closer. I heard what sounded like something coming toward me through the underbrush, and immediately went through the bushes to the left, over the side, and down below the trail into whatever I might find there. I hopped across huge exposed boulders and down maybe 50 feet below the trail. There were no more sounds. I waited about three minutes (I guess), and it was completely quiet, except for my own heartbeat. I even heard the sound of birds again. They probably had been chirping all along, but I had not heard them. I waited another five minutes, and maybe another five (hard to judge), and still no sound or movement. I decided to move back up onto the trail. That took several minutes since I was being very quiet and listening for any sound. I saw that a small rock had rolled down the upper bank and onto the trail. I waited and listened again, and then decided to see if I could move up the trail enough to get a glimpse of the first cub in the tree, or see if it was still there. I eventually saw the first cub, still in the tree, but could not see the second cub beyond. Then suddenly, as if on command, the closest cub scooted down the tree, and I saw the second cub come into view as it also came down the tree trunk very fast. They came up onto the trail ahead in the clearing and I saw them meet their mother, right in the middle of the trail. She seemed only interested in them, and didn¢t even look my way as far as I could tell. I was still pretty far away at that time. They began to move away from me on the trail, and I started to move carefully in their direction, since they seemed intent on getting out of there. I kind of wanted to know where they went. As I approached the boulder again, crouched down, they were just about to the far side of the clearing, moving away on the trail. They stayed on the trail and went into the trees a few feet then quickly ran off into the trees and underbrush to the left, running away like all the other bears I had encountered on my hiking trips. Whew! I was relieved. Now, what you need to know about this bear story is that it is a complete fabrication. It didn¢t really happen. However, almost everyone who asks me about my hiking trips asks about bears, and they seem disappointed that I don¢t have a hair-raising bear story. So now I have one, and I feel better. The afternoon was fairly easy with a climb over Mount Chapman and Mount Sequoyah. We are at Tri-Corner Knob Shelter with AT Addict (from NY), Lone Fisherman (from New Hampshire), and a couple out for a few days. We are settling in for the evening. I talked with Marlene from atop Mount Chapman, caught up on her activities, and gave her information on my hike so far so she can keep all our friends up to date. It was good to talk with her and hear her voice, but the call was cut short by the oncoming heavy rain. Tomorrow¢s hike to Davenport Gap Shelter will be pretty long ¢ almost 16 miles, but again, I must stay at the shelter. After that I will leave the Smokies and head to Standing Bear Farm for a night indoors, a shower, laundry, and re-supply. I am beginning to get my strength and am doing well with the hike. No injuries or unusual aches and pains. This shelter feels pretty remote, and the woods are close in on the sides. We are all pretty tired and getting quiet (most of us are anyway). I had a good time reading in I John. Time to get set for the night. Goodnight Sweetheart. dp