Date: 2007-04-04
From: Stecoah Gap Campsite

To: Fontana Campsite
Miles today: 11.5

Lightning StormWoah, that storm last night was pretty intense! I fell asleep at 10 as I saw flashes of light in the distance and got woken up at midnight by LOUD thunder. It was raining very hard and the wind was blowing the side of my tarp in toward the hammock so that rain was hitting the underquilt. If I had gone outside at that point to readjust I would have gotten instantly soaked and fozen. All I could think to do at the time was to reach out of the hammock and grab both sides of the tarp pulling them to the ground. That worked and kept the rain completly off me. I held them down for 30 min with numb fingers until the rain let up. The storm spit out pea sized hail and cracks of lightning that were a little too close for comfort not to mention heavy rain. Once it let, up I readjusted the tarp and lifted the hammock higher, towards the ridgeline. That kept me dry for the rest of the night and I slept like a baby since the front and lightning were gone. During the hike today I put hours of thought to making my sleeping arangment more bomb proof. I figured out a way to both guy out the middle of the tarp AND pull the bottom middle towards the ground, using the existing guy rope and stake. (not sure if this makes sense without a picture) I run the guy line from the guy out point attached to the center middle of the tarp, straignt out and around my hiking pole, then down around a stake on the ground, then back up and tied to the grommet in the bottom middle of the tarp. So basically it pulls out and down on the tarp. I will also make sure the hammock and tarp ridglne are close so I have max side coverae. OK, enough hammock talk...Bare bear hooked up breakfast around 8am with sausage gravy and toast with coffee, oj, and milk. I ate too much so I went back to sleep until 10, packed up and was hiking by 11. I caught up to osoito, earthquake, triple f (formerly couch), and beaut (sleeping beauty). The 5 of us hiked together for like 4m talking and singing. It was a lot of fun hiking in a group. We took a break at cody gap and then cable gap shelter and pushed on to a campsite 3m before fontana. We could see the smoky ridgline we climb up to tomorrow. Along the way I saw the trips first snakes. Two of them about 2ft long and brown with a 2 white stripes on their back. One almost scared me off the mountain since I was zoning out on a grateful dead winterland 73 dark star. Hemlock, Rio, Driftwood, and suicide frog all rolled into camp with us. I started a fire since I was the first at the site and had it flaming up good when everyone got there. We all ate and hung out around the fire until we crashed at 930. Tomorrow I resupply in Fontana, use my bounce box, and enter the smokys. My next big town stop will be Hot Springs, NC. I expect to be there in 7-8 days so that would be around 4/11. If anyone wants to send me food or whatever (not too much, remember I have to carry it) the address is:Karl WeissC/O General DeliveryHot Springs, NC 28743Hold for AT Hiker 4/11Write the last line (hold for AT Hiker 4/11) bigger. The date is an estimate, but that is a general time I'd be there. Just make sure you mail it first class priority usps mail so I can forward it if I get there too soon. I feel great and am so ready for this next leg of the journey. I think my feet are skipping the whole blister thing and going straight to calusus, my hands too. Today's StatsStarting Point:Stecoah Gap Campsite Ending Point:Fontana CampsiteMileage:11.5Elevation Gain:3470ftElevation Loss:3370ftHiking Time:6:22Weather:Colder and WindyPain Factor:1