Date: 2008-06-02
From: Spivey Gap

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 14.5

This was a very social day. Strange for a Monday. We met a lot of hikers, thru hikers, section hikers and several day hikers. Early in the day we met a young girl thru hiker who said she had hurt her foot. She used to hike 20 mile days but now she can only do 15. Late in the day we met an older gentleman thru hiker. He said when he started he thought he would be a 15 mile a day hiker but has found he is a 5 - 10 mile hiker. There sure are a wide variety of hikers out here.The start to our day was a long uphill. I usually like to start that kind of day early in the morning. It wasn't possible this morning because we had to first make a trip into Erwin to the Post Office to drop our bounce boxes. Then Johnny gave us a ride back out to Spivey Gap to continue down the trail. Actually today though it was UP the trail.We started up Little Bald mountain and then on to Big Bald mountain. Just before we reached the shelter on Big Bald we approached a group of day hikers. We had been going uphill now for about four miles. We were covered in sweat and that shower I'd had this morning was a long past memory. I took one glance at the group and immediately my sweat and stink seemed overwhelming. It was a group of three ladies walking with one gentleman. All the ladies were dressed in clean fresh hiking outfits, their hair and makeup were perfect. Not a drop of perspiration on their faces. They were VERY nice, said hello and smiled genuinely friendly smiles. But still I felt real grimy around them.On to the top of Big Bald and we met a young man walking with his three year old son. He was a local resident and was familiar with the mountains in the area so Soaring asked him lots of questions about the surrounding mountains.Oh, by the way, we were on top of a bald and were NOT fogged in. Rare occurence and we enjoyed it. We saw stunning views all around.We got a little trail magic today as well. First, about half way up Big Bald someone had set up a chair. I know that doesn't seem that magical, but when you've been in the woods for awhile it's very nice to sit in a chair. The second trail magic was some sugar cookies, carrots, coffee and water. I already had carrots in my food bag and don't drink coffee, but I was glad for the cookie and very glad for the water. Today was a tough water day.The trees on today's trail were fascinating. I don't think we've been in a section before with such old trees. I think Owl got tired of me saying 'Oh, what a great tree! Take a picture of that one.' I just think there is something so interesting about a big, old, twisted tree. I wonder what was going on in the world when this tree sprouted out of the ground? How has the forest changed around it? What caused it to twist into the shape it is in? I can easily see how Tolkien came up with Ents.So the day went on, meeting lots of people...one young man who says he is starting his thru hike in three weeks, two young section hikers marveling at the cookies and coffee wondering what trail magic means, chatting with Lewis and Clark. It really was a social day.We had planned to finish our day somewhere on the ridgeline between Street Gap and Sam's Gap. One NOBO told us there was a great campsite about a half a mile before the highway (I-26). That would be perfect for us. When we passed a campsite at Street Gap, two miles before the highway we wondered if that might be it, but we kept going. Sure enough, there were no other campsites...or flat ground. Sometimes I can see the benefit of a hammock. We ended up crossing under I-26 and sitting down on the side of the road to assess and rest our feet.We could tell by our maps that there was a small flat area just up the hill. What we couldn't tell was what was on that flat spot, but it was getting late and it seemed to be our best option. We headed on up the hill.So here we are, camped on a hillside overlooking interstate 26. Drifting off to the sound of big rigs lulling us to sleep. This AT hike thing sure has a variety of experiences.Rabbit, Owl and RooJoshua 1:9