Date: 2009-04-13
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter, NC/TN 

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter, NC/TN
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Cell goodOG notesWe left Jerry's Cabin Shelter at 8 am which was actually an early start. The first obstacle was Big Butt Mountain; it was a major climb, but it went fairly well because it was early in the day. The morning hiking went well and we reached the Flint Mountain Shelter by 11 am. We ate lunch and hiked on.The afternoon hiking was a real challenge. We had a major climb that crosses a stream 3 times, with each time being a little higher up the valley. At one point we saw a real nice waterfall. I think the trail maintainers wanted to show us that waterfall. It was either that, or he is a major sadist.We spent most of the day going back and forth with 3 hikers - One Speed, Hoosier, and Hodgepodge. They would pass us one time and we'd pass them another. They got to the shelter a few minutes before us and got the last spaces in the shelter. We had to set up our tent and now we're safely in our tent for the night.Tomorrow we're pressing on toward Erwin, our next trail town. Hopefully we'll get there Wednesday or Thursday. We are plucking away at the North Carolina / Tennessee border region of the trail. Hopefully we'll be starting our journey in Virginia in a few weeks. C6 notesSome portions of today's hiking were a pleasure; other parts were hard. We enjoy the easy downs and flat areas...can we just hike those from now on, please? Hmmm...not to be...mountains keep getting in the way. Oh well, one foot in front of the other and we'll reach our goal.In case anyone has wondered what type of wildlife we've seen so far, our hike has been uneventful so far....thank heavens! We have seen birds, squirrels, two bunnies, and mice. We saw a sign at one shelter in the Smokies (we had only stopped there for lunch) that there were bears in that area and they have been known to injure or kill humans. In the shelter log someone wrote that they watched a mother bear and two cubs outside the shelter chain link wall for about an hour the evening before. I hope we never have a personal bear story to tell. I'll be happy with just seeing the less threatening wildlife...our birds, bunnies, squirrels, and mice.Shelter logs are notebooks that are in almost every shelter. People put notes in the logs such as the date, what's new, and your trail name. For example, something like, "4/13/09 Stopped for lunch. Plan to hike to the Hogback Mountain Shelter today. Old Goat and Check Six." People sometimes write notes to friends who are behind them...to let them know their plans. Braid and Neal didn't do the Easter trail magic we did, so they are now ahead of us. Unfortunately, Braid's notes look as if he's having trouble with one of his legs. He thinks it's shin splints, and his note in this shelter log sounds as if he'll be getting off the trail. Don't know if he'll take some time to heal and then get back on or not. It's sad to read his note. Shelter logs are a popular way to see how friends are doing.Another example is Amy (aka Alias...or Sport...she recently changed her trail name to Sport). She, Gangsta, Hermes, Windup, and Saint are much faster than us, so they are a day ahead. They did the Easter Trail Magic...but from 20 miles up the trail (we did 6 miles up). It was great to see them again, and now we'll track them by their notes in the shelter logs. The people we meet are such a special part of this experience. I love the evenings when we can chat and get to know other hikers. Today is not one of those days...it's another cold, overcast, windy day that dissolved into cold light rain by the time we reached the shelter. Thus the reason we're in our tent by 6pm!! Too cold and wet to stay outside. Our bad weather days out number the good weather days....I'd love to think we might see summer, sunny weather sometime. Right now that feels like just a fantasy. OG tells me he had a lot more good days by now in his 2006 hike. My hands are cold outside my sleeping bag typing this, so I'm going to sign off for today and read my bookfor a while. OG has the radio on and has fallen asleep to whatever he's listening to....but not before he told me the weather forecast....rain tomorrow. No surprise there.'Night all!Old Goat & Check Six