Date: 2008-03-17
From: Spring Mountain Shelter NC

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter TN
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 29 ¢ Monday March 17 ¢ Jerry Cabin Shelter TN ¢ Miles Today: 15.4 Total Miles: 298.1We started moving around 7:00 this morning; it was a bit chilly - upper 30s and we had a slight wind. We hit the trail about 7:40 and had our normal smooth trail with good inclines and declines until mid-afternoon when we hit Big Firescald Knob. We were really surprised as it was almost like Clingman's Dome. We were climbing up and down boulders; some of them were very narrow. It was a tight squeeze with the body and the pack. It would seem at times that you would climb up boulder steps for 20¢, then go down for 20¢, up for 20' and then down for 20'. On one of the boulder drops, we actually had to turn around backwards because there was not enough room for the body and the pack to get down. It was pretty fun; it broke up the mundaneness of the smooth trail. While we were up on the high exposed Big Firescald Knob, we saw a huge, vast valley below us, which seemed to contain an abundance of different farms. I'm not quite sure where we're looking but it was definitely pretty. There was a blue blaze trail that went around Big Firescald Knob, so in inclement weather, a hiker would not have to be on the exposed ridge. Glad we had nice weather for this segment. It was fun and pretty.We passed a sign today near an old gravel road that mentioned Trail Magic offerings by Fal and Hercules complete with their menu of Belgian waffles with pecans and syrup, ice cream and various desserts! Grasshopper was all set to go but Brakeman was still full to the gills and we were still packing a ton of food. So despite the nearness to the trail - it was just 300 yards off the trail, we opted out. So sad! Can you believe we turned down food? We remember reading about this couple offering Trail Magic with a little religious message in other¢s journals.We can tell that spring is arriving in the mountains. We've seen daffodils blooming. A few tree species are in bud along the trail and in the valleys and in Hot Springs we have seen forsythia blooming. We got to camp about 5:00, a little later than we expected because of the slow climbing up and over the Knob. It took about an hour and a half to do all our camp chores and it was quite chilly because of the wind. The wind had increased all day long. It's now 7:15; we're in our tent and we probably have 30mph-sustained winds.   We pitched the tent so that a bank of rhododendrons buffers us. It¢s better when the tent isn't vibrating, much quieter and better for sleeping. Currently it's in the upper 40s inside the tent. Tonight we noticed that one section of our tent pole appears to be cracked. When we get to Erwin, we're going to have to call the dealer where we bought it and see if we can't get a replacement pole sent to us. Unfortunately, this tent only has one pole so when one section of that pole is cracked; it puts at risk the entire tent. And, of course, we didn't bring the little sleeve to use in that situation. Harry is actually bringing that to us when we meet in Damascus. We have about 15 miles tomorrow as well as the next day before a 12-mile day into Erwin. The game plan is to continue our early starts, as we¢re never quite sure how long a 15-mile day will take.Goodnight from Tennessee.