Date: 2013-11-12
From: cold spring shelter 

To: long branch shelter 
Miles today: 23.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Met back up with PT and Woody who I'd gotten ahead of a few days back when they went into Gatlinburg to resupply and I kept going. PT comically had a huge bag of potato chips strapped to the outside of his pack. Climbed the stone tower on top of Wayah Bald with them and watched the horizon for a while. Lots of easy hiking. Some rain, not too bad. Found trash cans! This is big because we can get rid of 5-10oz of trash weight... which after this many miles is a noticeable relief when it's gone. Realized I might be becoming one of those hikers that cut the handles off toothbrushes. I had sent a resupply box to Franklin, so I hitched in at the interstate 64 crossing, hoping to grab my mail, a warm meal, and get back to the trail in time to make it to the first shelter. Took almost an hour to get a hitch, but it was worth it. While waiting I met a retired man parked nearby, who had just bought all his gear at REI the day before, and wanted to test it out on the trail, solo, for a day or two. His inexperience concerned me a little but I wished him good luck and watched his heavy pack covered in dangling equipment disappear into the woods northbound. Eventually I got a hitch and the guy that picked me up had a van full of a hundred GUN SHOW signs that he had to push and shovel around to the back corner to make room for me. His passenger grew up in the same part of town I live in which made for a pretty small-world feeling. Then he proudly announces that he is none other than Ron Haven; pro wrestler, nobo season shuttle driver, owner of 3 budget motels in town, organizer of the April fool bash hiker festival, and last but not least, city councilman. He gave me a great history of the town, his background, dropped some inside info on a hostel opening in 2014 in Franklin to make it cheaper for AT hikers to stay in town, and dropped me at the post office.The post office didn't have my resupply. I was suddenly confused whether I'd sent one here or they'd lost it. Didn't have time to worry about it, just walked a mile across town to resupply at the grocery store, and grab a hot meal on the way. Checked the weather as I walked, since I was getting whipped by icy wind. Big snowstorm coming, probably before midnight. Stopped at a 50's-style diner to grab a quick burger, and it was buy one get one free night, so I got two burgers. My waitress "Oblivia" thought this was funny. A guy in an older group by the window asked if I was a hiker and then we took turns explaining the trail to the others in his group. They offered me a ride back to the trail but I still needed to pick up resupply food. The guy was insistent and said he'd meet me at the grocery store. I thanked him and ran down to resupply, got everything paid for, stripped of its packaging, and stuffed into my pack, then realized I'd left my phone AND camera charging back at the restaurant. I hopped into their car, and felt really really stupid, taking several one-way streets to get back up to the restaurant. At this point the sun is setting. Jumped out and ran in, grabbed the phone, and Oblivia comes up smiling and says "Oh thank goodness you have a car, I was worried you were going back out there in this storm." "I am." I smiled ruefully, as I refilled my water bottles from their soda machine. "Well I hope you have lots of warm clothes to put on." "I don't." and headed back out to the car.We took a couple wrong turns then wound our way up the mountain, which seemed much farther from town than it had coming in, it got dark, and my quick resupply plan felt like it had gone pretty off the rails. They dropped me at the trailhead, asked me if I was sure I was ok, and drove off. I fished around for my headlamp and saw the solo hiker from earlier sitting in his car. Walked over to ask and he explained he had gotten a mile out then ran into this lost dog, which was now shivering in his floorboard, gotten cold himself, then decided to go back to town with the dog. I still had 3.8 miles to walk to the nearest shelter, it was dark, I didn't have a tent other than a small tarp I'd already decided wouldn't work in the wind, and section hikers were turning back. I thought for a long while about just getting a ride BACK into town, hit up Ron Haven for a cheap motel room, and just be sensible about this whole thing.Sensibility failed, I have a pretty strong drive to finish now, so for whatever reason, added some caffeine mix to my water, and went over the mountain. Kept a fast pace to stay warm, arrived at Rock Gap shelter after 2 hours. But the bear cables are missing, the shelter log is chewed to ribbons, there are mice everywhere jumping onto my shoe looking for food. This run-down shelter was apparently built in the 60s, and there's some creepy bird perching inside, probably sheltering from the incoming storm. The thought of spending the next day snowed in here, alone with a creepy bird, does not seem appealing. I look at the guide and see that there's another shelter only 3.5 miles farther, but it has no build date, only a note "completion expected in 2013" which means it might not even be there. I'm warmed up, I'm wired on caffeine, it's not getting any darker or colder, there's a chance others might be at the next shelter for company, so ... sensibility fails again.The path was rocky and slow but the rhododendron were so tight they formed a tunnel that sheltered me from most of the wind and blowing ice. Several times I spooked animals in the bushes which was good for an adrenaline rush every time. I laughed at myself a little thinking about how similar this situation was to getting stuck after dark up in the White Mountains, and how little I'd learned about planning for the sun to go down. I need to work on this if I want to stay healthy in the future. Finally found the shelter at 10pm, it's a huge two story beauty, managed to sneak up into the loft and get my sleeping gear laid out without waking either of the two shadows on the first floor thanks to all the wind noise. Then I accidentally knocked over a water bottle getting into my bag and that woke someone downstairs. He listened for a minute then woke the other guy up whispering "I think there's someone else here" I recognized Woody and PT's voices and called down to them it was only me. Immediately Woody sits up in his hammock and yells "Stripe? What the hell are you doing out in the cold like this, its COLD man, where did you even come from?" I laughed and told them about the creepy bird at the last shelter, and passed out.