Date: 2003-07-21
From: Iron Mountain Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: scattered clouds

As I gathered my gear to leave the shelter, I thought about the snorting I had heard the night before. It was a foggy morning, and visibility was low. I had some big miles ahead (for me) and I wanted an early start. About 2 minutes nobo I ran into an area where all the grass/weeds were flattened. Some group of animals had spent the night hear...deer, maybe bear. I'll never know. I'm glad they decided not to roam that night. I passed Nick Grindstaff's monument/tombstone. I wish I would've written down what the monument said, but it was very sad, and left me in a pensive mood for the next hour or so. I continued down to the road crossing, and then began my ascent toward the Holston Mountain trail near the Double Springs shelter. This appeared to be a long, sustained climb on the map, and I was concerned. I kept looking for land marks, but didn't see them. I finally reached the ridge line in a lot less time than I thought. I wouldn't say the climb was easy, but it didn't deserve my fears. I took a good break, then continued to Double Spring shelter. I read the journal at the shelter, and took another good break. This would've been a nice shelter to stay at, but I had more miles to travel. I made good time hiking to Low Gap and filtered water at a piped spring at the road. I kept thinking I heard thunder, but the trucks were so loud coming around the curves, it was hard to tell. Supposedly this next section into Damascus was supposed to be pretty easy. My feet were still pretty sore, and I was tired. I was hoping for some easy trail. I crossed the road and walked into a huge rain storm. The wind was blowing hard as I gently climbed out of the gap. I knew the rain would begin anytime. I just hoped I wouldn't have to deal with lightening. No lightening, but it rained the hardest it had rained on me all summer. My rain gear was on and I just slogged along. It must have rained for an hour or so. I sought shelter for a while in the old and I mean OLD shelter at McQueens Knob. It wasn't in good condition, but I was able to eat a snack without being bombarded by the rain. The rain finally let up and the heat started back on. I continued hiking until I reached Abingdon Gap shelter. Tomorrow I would be in Virginia! (The next summer I wondered if I would ever get out of Virginia!) I laid out my gear to dry, and decided I had to get some water. The water source for the shelter is STRAIGHT down, forever. I didn't think I would ever find the water, and the climb back was horrible. I got as much water as I could carry, I didn't want to go back down there. I was laying around the shelter, dreaming about Damascus, when I heard someone coming up sobo on the trail. He seemed in major distress. This man was in his late 60's or so, and was having difficulty breathing. I cleared my gear from drying out and helped him sit down. He was out of water, so I gave him some of mine. After helping him for a while, I found out that he had heart problems, and had recently gotten out of the hospital with giarda (however you spell that word). He took some pills, and seemed in better conditions. We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the trail and his life. He was an interesting man. I offered to get help for him in Damascus, or walk him back to Damascus (it was all down hill) but he wanted to stay at the shelter another day to rest, then hike sobo to low gap. If he still wasn't feeling well, he would hitch a ride and go home. I was willing to walk with him back to low gap, but he said he was fine, he just was dehydrated from before, and needed to rest. I never heard anything more about him, which I guess is good news. But I've always wondered if he was ok. He could accept that one day he might die hiking, but it was preferable to dying at home.