Date: 2004-05-11
From: Peck's Corner Shelter

To: Mt. Cammerer Fire Lookout 
Miles today: 16.8

This is amazing! I am in the most unbelievable spot imaginable! The Mt. Cammerer Fire Lookout is a stone, octagonal structure with glass windows built by hand by CCC workers between 1937 and 1938. It was refurbished in the late 80¢s and is an incredible find. It is perched on the very end of a long ridge, one-half mile off the Appalachian Trail. The end of the ridge where it is located marks the eastern end of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park at approximately 5000' elevation. From this point everything falls away to Davenport Gap and the Pigeon River 3,500 feet below where the Great Smokey Mountain National Park boundary ends. The view commanded from this place is truly awesome!But then this entire day, like so many other days on the Appalachian Trail has been truly awesome right from the start.The day began early after a fitful night¢s sleep. The shelter was full and the guy next to me was an inexperienced day-hiker, who didn¢t even have a sleeping bag with him. He wore his boots and raingear to keep warm and spent all night moving around trying to get comfortable. Every time one of his boots hit the shelter floor it sounded like a kettle drum and his rain clothes ruffled like cellophane.I was on the trail by 8:30 am and, surprisingly, felt strong and was eager to tackle the 12.9 miles from Peck¢s Corner Shelter to Cosby Knob Shelter a hike which included a 2,300¢ of ascent to the top of Mt. Sequoyah (6,000 feet), Mt. Chapman (6,250 feet) and skirted the summit of Mt. Guyot at 6,360 feet. I worked hard going up the inclines, inspired by the warm, sunny, and low humidity of the day. I stopped for lunch (¢mountain sushi,¢ (sardines) cheese and peanut butter from the jar) on an open saddle above Hell Ridge. I was about finished when ¢Firefly,¢ ¢Shannon¢ and Swedish showed up. I fell-in with them and enjoyed a couple of hours of interesting afternoon conversation, as we periodically alternated lead along Snake Bend Ridge and onto Cosby Knob. We arrived there around 1:30 pm and after re-filling my water bottle and kicking off my boots, I curled up for a well-deserved nap. It was still early in the day when I awoke. I decided to set about making a scrumptious ¢gourmet¢ meal of macaroni and cheese with green peas and diced Spam accompanied by a couple of Spam, cheese and mustard burritos. After going to bed still somewhat hungry last night, I over-killed tonight by preparing enough to feed a small army. While at dinner, I chatted with a fellow Section Hiker, Ron, from Houston whom I have seen several times over the course of the past weeks. ¢Freebird¢ arrived at Cosby Knob in time to help me finish my leftovers. Because the shelter was filling up and it was still early, we decided to head towards Davenport Gap Shelter six miles away where ¢Swedish¢ and ¢Shannon¢ and some other Thru Hikers had already headed. ¢Freebird¢ left five minutes before me and as the expression goes, ¢Timing is everything¢¢ I was still in the shelter and dry when a quick thunderstorm, blew through, complete with hail and driving rain. Being an experienced hiker, though, ¢Freebird¢ managed to avoid the hail but was nonetheless quite soaked when I caught up with him thirty minutes later. When we reached the half-way point to Davenport Shelter, storms were still threatening and dark was coming on quickly, so I followed his lead and turned off at the Mt. Clammerer side trail that leads to this incredible spot where we¢re spending the night. The Thru-Hikers Handbook describes this point as ¢Panoramic vista .5 miles off the AT to the left on fairly level ground.¢ The handbook goes on to state, ¢Worth it!¢ according to ¢Breaking Wind¢ of 96¢ Well, wouldn¢t you know it ¢ ¢Breaking Wind¢ is none other than my friend ¢Freebird¢ as he was known when he did his first Thru Hike in 1996. So finding this Lookout was no surprise to him.When we arrived here just before sunset we found another seasoned Thru Hiker, ¢Stomp Knocker¢ who had been seeking shelter from the weather was already here, which made for fun conversation. This is ¢Stomp-knocker¢s¢ third thru-hike in his many years, having already completed one trip from north to south in 2002 and one from south to north in 2003. Between the two of them they¢ve got nearly 10,000 miles of hiking on the AT under their belt and listening to them swap stories, tales and share experiences is quite a treat. He was probably heading here all along but didn¢t want to spoil my surprise by saying something about it.The real surprise, though, is the unparalleled view that the handbook understatedly described a ¢Panoramic Vista¢. I wish I could describe it to you¢ no, I really wish I could share it with you. You might get a sense of the grandeur of this scene if you picture yourself as a youngster, sitting up in your parent¢s great big bed with your back against the headboard which in this case would be the 6,000 foot peaks we crossed over the past few days! Now, spread out your arms and legs as wide as you can and wiggle you toes and fingers to create as many folds and wrinkles and peaks and valleys and hollows and ridges and knobs and knolls and gaps in the old, black-green comforter spread out before you. Make sure these peaks and valley and other contours extend all the way from where you have tucked the comforter in whole your chin to the foot on your bed. Picture now tiny little sparkles and yellow dots of lights in the valleys and folds as twilight approaches and farms and towns turn on their light down there 3,500 feet below and miles and miles away. Meanwhile on the ceiling, overhead, real stars begin to appear with the clarity and whiteness that makes those below you pale and contrast and in number. Now comes the tough part¢ imagine the comforter doesn¢t end at the edges of your parents bed at all, but extends all the way to the corners of the room and beyond¢ for as far as you can see ¢ to that indistinguishable place way, way, out there where the stars and the farm lights dissolve into one another. Now, breathe in the smell of rain- scrubbed mountain air and feel the coolness of the rising wind on your neck. Now you can begin to appreciate what ¢Worth it¢ really means.¢Freebird¢¢is curled up on his sleeping bag on the 3¢ wide porch that runs around the outside of the Lookout. I¢ve decided to sleep inside with another hiker ¢Stompknocker,¢ who got his name because, with feet almost as big as mine, his toes stuck out from the tops of the sandals he wore on one his earlier hikes causing him to constantly stub his toes on the roots that criss-cross so many sections of the Trail. ¢Stompknocker,¢ is a very interesting man. Last year he completed a ¢Yo Yo,¢ Thru Hike, walking from Georgia to Maine and then turned around and walked over the 2000 miles back to Georgia. After a few months off he¢s now on a NOBO Thru Hike again! I am about to tuck myself into that black-green comforter, I described to you, in the stone Lookout on top of Mt. Cammerer and pull the vista right up to my chin and wiggle my toes. I am ever so grateful to be exactly where I am doing exactly what I am doing. Goodnight.