Date: 2013-04-03
From: Carter Gap

To: Rock Gap
Miles today: 12.1

Big day today. We hit the 100 mile mark! The big attraction is Albert Mountain and todays walk is so full of memories. Albert Mountain looks down on Hoop's mountain home on Jones Creek. During past visits we climbed Albert Mountain (remember, Karyl and Spring) and found Semplesee at the top during 2012. He was a young man from Illinois doing his thru-hike that year. We took him home with us and kept him for a couple of days. He was having a few knee/foot problems so Karyl was a great resource with all her PT knowledge. Semplesee did make it to Katahdin that year so he was able to work them out. A lot of the younger hikers have knee/foot problems - they may just try to do too much in too short a time.So with that in mind, I started my day's hike on a very friendly level stretch. You really have very few sections like this - the trail in GA and NC tends to go either up or down (and very steeply at that). I made good time to the base of Albert and then began the upward climb. I am steady and slow, plus I was trying not to repull my muscle so I got to see all the people behind me - as they passed. There is a bypass around Albert and I decided to take that since I had already climbed the mountain before. I would have missed the cutoff if not for the Germans (husband and wife hikers). They said they were taking the Senior discount and I said I qualified for that so followed behind. At one point, as we climbed the road, I thought maybe we were going the wrong way and never again would I follow the Germans, but - bad me - the next moment, we were going past a gate, up an old road, just as described by Dog Walker (he is with Trail Dog, an Aussie dog). I met back up with the trail and started clipping along. I had gone about a half mile when someone said 'hey You!!'. I turned around and stood stock still in the trail, not believing my eyes. It was Hoop!! I probably stood there like an idiot for a full minute, still not believing my eyes. How in the world could he have found me! It would be like finding a needle in the haystack! He had driven up from Asheville just to do a little trail magic - with beer, pop, chips, cookies, apples - for the hikers. The guys were all just thrilled with the beer after climbing down from Albert - best trail magic ever!My best trail magic ever was just seeing Hoop! What a guy! We visited for an hour and then he hung around to see if there was any trash to pack down. You'd be surprised how much trash people leave on this trail. Idiots! There is another hiker like Hoop that collects the trash - his trail name is Scavenger. I made good time to Rock Gap - the shelter closest to Franklin and the one where Socks and I brought McDonalds to hikers (the Charons were among them) last year. It is my first time sleeping in a shelter. When I arrived, there was no one there. 30 minutes later, we had a full house of 6 hikers to sleep in the shelter. We have a 100% chance of rain tomorrow and no one likes to pack up a wet tent. We even had one guy pitch his tent in the cooking area, between the picnic table and shelter. It is the warmest night we've had and I am looking forward to a good nights rest (as long as the snorers cooperate).