Date: 2006-04-13
To: Hiawassee Inn
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: few clouds

06:30 - wake time. Slept pretty good, feeling rested. Was upon occasion to listen to the owls howl and screech. I've always liked owls - probably my favorite bird. I have an owl candle always perched somewhere in my home to watch over. Now I have new owls! ool. Haven't seen one, but they make a hell of a racket. Owls look so fluffy and cute, yet they are deadly predators with an unbelievable sense of smell and vision. In automobiles terms, it's a "sleeper" little crazy looking car with a kick ass powertran. Something that takes everyone by surprise...hmm...metaphor for life? Unleash your hidden and awesome abilities. Maybe so, maybe it's caffeine dehydration. The sun won't come up for a bit yet, but I'm trying to break camp at early morning mist. The birds begin their sing-song ways - time to move. Better to rest in the afternoon that's the best part of the day. The full moon last night bathed my tent in almost enough light to read - awesome. There are to be some meteor activity - looking forward to checking the night sky then. It's amazing how full of stars our sky is. Unfortunately, we live with so much light pollution that we city dwellers don't really see what is there. Hmmm....more metaphors? Noisy pollution too! Rocky mentioned how loud roads are. Having lived faily close to interstates and highways all my life, I agreed. But now, walking out of the woods to a road (which you can hear on your approach) and hearing even one car go by is freaking loud!Sigh.....how's that saying go? The best laid plans of mice and men.......something about them being blown all to hell. I'm sitting at the Hiawasse Inn. I was planning to stop here, but two days from now. My knee is acting up again. I walked around 9 miles today to a place called Unicoi Gap. I had to decide to get off the trail again. I was first out of camp, and got passed by most everyone fairly quickly. One bonus..Kathy the photographer was on the trail - nice to see her smiling face. Being passed isn't a problem, it's not being able to bend my knee enough to life my foot over the rocks and roots. Another executive decision needed to be made. I was going to try to make it to a campsite, ? miles past Unicoi, but the climb up there would suck. I have 2 days food left, and at my present rate, it will take my probably 3 days to get to Dicks Creek Gap, the next shelter stop to Hiawasee. So even if I do make it as scheduled, I wound up on Hiawasse on Sunday. Since tomorrow is Friday, I need to get off the trail and see a doctor. If course, he or she is going to tell me to stop hiking, but I need to make sure I'm not doing any permanent damage. PS I'm now at Monte Alban mexican restaurant enjoying the Burrito special and Grande Margarita. The people at the Inn even offered me the keys to their van so I could drive here, but it was only a 1/2 mile walk (without 35 pounds in a pack and no hills to speak of). I declined the drive given I knew the margarita would be on the agenda. Let's rewind back to this afternoon. I caught up with my friend, Janneka, from Holland, trail name Diesel. She was filling her water. I told her if I didn't make it to camp, I'd be at ? sheter and would make the descent in the morning. I knew there is a shuttle at 9:30am. Since it was only 13:00, Janneka suggested I hike down the mile and a half and hitch (hitchhike) to town. I said I'd check the shelter and decide. I pressed on ahead, and checked the shelter register. It had filled up. A note from Sam I Am told she took it with to mail back. Shelter registers are just spiral notebooks for people to record their comings and goings, thoughts, musings, and doodles. I've made it a habit to check them each time, flipping back to see what's been going on. No register, but there was a note from Rocky and Swamp Fox dated 4/10/06 with their email address. They are getting off and resuming north to finish Rocky's miles. I still hope to catch them later this summer. The last time I left the trail, I had my tearful goodbye with them. Such nice people!!! So Janneka caught up to me at the shelter, and offered to hike down with me. We had a very nice conversation as we walked. I enjoy getting a non-American point of view. Seems most of the world despises our government, much as I do. Got down to Unicoi and found Hatrack (sp) waiting for Janneka. They are walking together for now. Who else is there? Kathy the photographer, she laughed and told me she messed up her scheduling and told her friend to pick her up the following day! I told her I'd help her hitch to town. She's never hitched a ride before. I said as long as she gets someone's attention, being female and all, I'd do the talking. Well, best laid plans - she had to go the opposite direction. So here we are, at either end of the parking area thumbing in our respective direction. Fifteen minutes into it, a pickup truck passes by me and jams on the brakes. He pulled up to Kathy and I grabbed my bag and hustled over there. He was going in my direction. By the time I got there, he had offered her a ride, and as it turns out, he turned around and went back the way he came...WTF? If we don't hear from Kathy again, I have his plates, vehicle description, and can positively ID the guy in a police lineup. I sure hope that's not necessary. I grabbed my pack and dragged my ass back to the other side of the parking lot. I stook there for about another hour, trying to look friendly and forlorn at all the same time. I was just about to give up trying to hitch. I was flat out of water at this point. The next water source was.6 miles up the hill and back down. I was going to water up and begin walking to town. Perhaps if I walked with an aggravated limp, some kind soul would pity me. But hey, no sooner had I resigned myself to the 10 mile walk to town, than a gentleman in a pickup saw my thumb and pulled in. Trail magic or answered prayer, you make the call. He got out of the cab and made space for my pack in the bed of his truck. As I climbed in the cabin thanking him profusely, I introduced myself. His name was Hiram. He told me he likes to help hikers, but won't give anyone else rides. (good rule) We made small talk into town. Very interesting man. He dropped me off at the door of the Hiawasse Inn. This journal was cut short by too much margarita, Icehouse and Heineken.