Date: 2003-04-14
From: Asheville,N.C.

To: Gatlinburg, Tenn.
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

The location may change but the AT miles remain the same. Today we moved from 40 miles east of the AT to 15 miles west as I try to get back to health. "Rob" Faught dropped us off at Newfound Gap about lunchtime and we hitched a ride from there to Gatlinburg. It was over 80 degreesF in Gatlinburg this afternoon and our arctic hardships of only two days ago now seem like a bad dream.It would be hard to find two more contrasting towns than Asheville and Gatlinburg. Asheville is a college town, quite sophisticated in many ways, lots of coffee shops and restaurants with alternative menus, and with a bohemian atmosphere about it. Many of the people in the cafes seem hippie-ish, "crunchy" is the word young Americans use to describe the place and community. Gatlinburg is, well, different. Commercialised, touristy, gaudy, garish. Maybe even tacky. If we were here long enough, it might also prove to be more fun.  The terrible weather of the past week - which we now know knocked out power to thousands of homes in the region and blocked roads - has driven most AT hikers into town. Partly for practical reasons and partly to recover emotionally from their experiences I think. As we walked towards the Post Office this afternon, we suddenly heard a cry of "Carnethy Bob! Verity!" and turned to see "Dimple Rock" waving furiously from the window of a trolley bus going by. Later we met her, "Wrong Way Brown" and "Two Speeds" doing their shopping, and tonight we met them to eat at the local brewery, along with "Rocky", "Charity" (a history student from Washington D.C.) and Justin. Huge pizzas disappeared, large steaks were demolished. "The Hunger" has arrived for many of us. In the first few weeks, we all noted how the AT had dulled our appetites, and we all carried too much food. For Verity and me, our daily diet has been: breakfast- hot oatmeal + hot chocolate; elevenses- poptart; 2 chocolate bars through the day; supper- a lipton's meal or noodles. The hiking community says that at some point this changes, and the hiker suddenly becomes a voracious calorie consumer. In our case, this point came yesterday in Asheville. Turning up for our complimentary breakfast, we each had a bowl of cereal, then a toasted bagel. Then another full bowl of cereal. Then another bagel. A little self-conscious at this point, we left, walked into the centre of town, and within twenty minutes were settled in a coffee shop with two huge slices of cake. We managed to snack along through the day, and then met up with "Snack Attack" and "Cuss" for a serious pizza-fest in the evening. The hunger has arrived! While we were trying to hitch a ride into town at Newfound Gap today, who should pull into the car park in th back of an SUV but "Sheepstuff". Hiker Portrait: "Sheepstuff"Verity and I first met "Sheepstuff" on our first day out of the NOC on a stiff climb up to Sassafras Gap Shelter. She was going very slowly trying to protect two bad ankles. She was very gracious and friendly. Quite philosophical about her own difficulties and showed no sign of being worried about it. She would simply "go as far as I can go, and then put up my little tent". She is a slim, petite lady in her late fifties who lives about seventy miles south of Pittsburg, Pa. When her husband retired as a vet, they decided to start farming. They run a sheep farm, hence her name. I believe she has a son who is along-time hiking buff, and he accompanied her for the first ten days of her hike to get her started. That first day we met her, she reached the shelter late on, but wouldn't take a space although there was room. It was a poor camping area, with no ground remotely level, but she liked her tent. This was the night of the thunderstorm. In the morning, as those of us in the shelter looked miserably out at the pounding rain, "Sheepstuff" came in with a perfectly benign expression on her face ( she normally looks like that). Hadn't she had a terrible night? Not at all, she had been warm. She had even slept through till 7.30am which she would never be able to do on the farm. And that's just "Sheepstuff" all over. Will anything make her grumpy? At some point, will she have a tantrum? I think not. In Fontana, where she was hobbling worse than ever, she was just delighted that she'd had a long phone conversation with her husband. As for her problems, "You have to accept that stuff just happens". Oh, that I could be like that! At Newfound Gap, she remarked that no-one was slower than her. Which means that she will become one of the best known hikers on the AT (as everyone passes her) and, I would predict, one of the most respected. I know many of the young hikers feel very protective towards her. I'll stop here. It's Tuesday m,orning and time for my second breakfast!