Date: 2003-06-03
From: Icewater Spring Shelter

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: moderate rain

Boy, what a change from yesterday. A foggy, rainy, nasty day. Really makes you want to get up and hike¢¦My friend David ¢ the photographer ¢ was supposed to meet me here at the shelter, either last night or this morning. It¢s nearly seven and no sign of him yet. I hate to think he¢s out there in this.Well once again, it¢s not so bad once you¢re out in it. Anne and I finally started out together around 9:15 am. We caught up to Old John ¢ or American Nomad as he calls himself ¢ at Charlie¢s Bunion.Off to the right, what did I see? A blue tarp. I presume it was Blue Tarp Man. Now, if so, this was a possible cause for concern. See, Barbara saw him heading up the trail from Fontana Dam on Thursday ¢ today¢s Tuesday. I suppose it¢s possible he could have gotten off at some point, but the idea that he may have been lying there in his tarp for a few days? I worried.We paused, and Hal caught up to us, but the general consensus was to move on and call a ranger later. After all, what could we do, we asked ourselves?Still, I felt exactly like the priest in the story of the Good Samaritan. (Luke 10: 25-37). Matthew 25: 45 flashed in my mind again, ¢¢¦whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.¢ I wondered, is this a test, and did I fail again? Maybe, maybe not.At any rate, then I hiked alone until 1:30, when I came across Hal sitting at the turnoff to Peck¢s Corner Shelter. It was another mentally challenging day, I suppose because of the weather. I passed many magnificent views ¢ only trouble is, I couldn¢t see them!I did find another favorite spot, despite the weather. I think it may have called Bradley¢s View ¢ none of these places are labeled, you see. The forest today was all evergreens ¢ quite a different complexion from two days ago. I came to a spot where the trail was built into the side of the mountain, a high embankment on the left, a sharp drop-off on the right. Loose shale covered the trail and the cliff below, where for some reason the trees had been cleared. A pile of them lay at the bottom 50+ feet or so below; I couldn¢t tell if there had been a fire or what caused the clearing.The wind had returned today, probably close to 30 or 40 miles per hour. A mist boiled up from the high valley, concealing only the tree tops. Spindly evergreens leaned and swayed in the wind. I squatted there as long as I dared, hoping not to get chilled, less than five minutes. It was too late. I hurried on, anxious for lunch.After lunch Hal and I hung together again, him falling behind on the downhills, me falling behind on the uphills. This still bothers me. I finally pushed so hard I made it ahead a ways, doing some serious self-talk on the way.¢Emily, would you stop comparing yourself? You¢ve walked over 200 miles, carrying a good 35-38 pounds! That is no small feat. This is not a competition. Sure there will always be people better, faster, ...er (insert word), as will there always be people worse, slower ...er.¢ Years ago a roommate of mine from my first year of college clipped a Nike ad (or some athletic brand) that said something to the effect of, ¢The challenge isn¢t someone else. It¢s the ache in your lungs, the burning in your legs, and the voice inside you that yells can¢t. But you don¢t listen. You just push harder. And then you hear the voice whisper can, and you discover that the person you thought you were is no match for the one you really are.¢And after all, just when we started the final climb that I thought would be my demise, we were here ¢ and half an hour earlier than I¢d estimated! In fact it was only 3:30 pm. We hesitated. It was so early. What do you do when you get to a shelter so early? It felt odd, but nice.A little disconcerting was the laundry room feel the shelter had ¢ it being a wet day, the five hikers already settled in had strung their stuff out to dry. (I guess they don¢t realize this is the Smokies ¢ once something is wet in the Smokies, it never dries!)But as the rest of us trickled in, Joe and Ben, John, and finally Anne, they made room. Now we all have our packs hung up. Anne says it reminds her of the meat locker scene in Rocky¢s. It reminds Hal of saddles; I think of the nasty scene in Braveheart when all the bodies are hung in the cabin. It is amusing though. Wish the 100 special film I have (all I could find at Fontana Village) would do the moment justice!At last David arrived carrying my special delivery! What a great friend! He started at Newfound Gap this morning, putting him at over 15 miles. Go David! And this from doing nothing. Added to the 1 mile round trip he made into Peck¢s Corner Shelter! I was so glad he made it ¢ too bad we weren¢t able to hike together. I¢d told him I usually started hiking around nine, and when the weather was so nasty this morning I wasn¢t sure whether we¢d make it at all. I¢d left him a note at Icewater Spring this morning, so he just headed all the way down here. Apparently, he got it at 9:40. So close.He fit right in with all of us, except I think he smells better. And also thanks to Lisa, who had my boots. I have an extra feast for morning time! Thank you, David, so much for carrying that extra weight. ¢You¢re the man!¢ We all agreed.We were all a little giddy tonight ¢ I said, ¢We didn¢t hike far enough today, we¢re so hyper.¢ It was fun, the camaraderie, the teasing, the understanding. This is what it¢s all about! I really like these people.