Date: 2004-03-02
From: home

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

hey, guess i don't know how to enter the website. thought i had changed it . will be arriving at the hiker hostel on mar. 2nd and then starting the trail at springer on the 3rd.                pa kettleleft home mar. 3. on burlington trailways bus. got to indianapolis and no pack. it got left in burlington. damn was i pissed. bus drivers fault. they changed buses and did not transfer baggage. 14 people with no baggage. they promised it would get to gainesville right after i arrive. so at atlanta i waited all day . 3 buses later still no pack. so went on to hiker hostel. nice place josh and leigh saint run the place.         03-03-04 WED. slack packed from springer mt. to gooch gap.         03/04/04 THURS.      then next day from gooch gap to neels gap. pack came in to gainesville and leigh's motherinlaw brought it out to me. was at neel's gap from 3:30 til 7;30. had to wait on other hikers who also going back to hostel. kind of tired.                     03/05/04 FRI.         from neels gap to unicol gap 20 miles tough day. got a ride back to hostel. will be last day at hostel. since leigh is taking nuffy up to near blueberry patch she will carry my pack up to blueberry hostel for me and i will slack pack there.               03/06/04 SAT.arrived at blueberry patch and my pack was sitting by the door. thanks to leigh. very pleasant place and good people. it is a small truck farm. they raise veg's. fruit etc. have donkeys and other animals. went into town for dinner. rode in with moonpie's parents. met haiku and stiffie, deja vu. next morn. had blueberry pancakes with the owners.            03/07/04 MILE 78             in n. car. now. was a nice day up til about 5 then cold wind 40 mph and rain. was a tough day.03/08/04 mile 92tough 13 miles. trail is ok. but my legs aren't there yet and my hip belt is making my hips sore. was cold today and is cold tonite. trying to build a fire.            03/09/04 MILE 103 TUES. STAYED IN ROCK GAP SHELTER         traveling with red dog from ala. and his black lab buck, dragon slayer from fla. alex from troy ala. mt. goat and talks with trees from huntsville ala. lopaka from fla.a retired marine corp col. and his buddy kinlock from ca.who also ret. marine. arlene 63 yrs. old from mo. retired from dairy farm and let her son take it over. also wildcat from tn. but got his name cause he is kansas st. alum. ok day but will be glad to get rid of some weight . snowed today. in rockgap shelter tonight. and tape player is not working so have lost all the thoughts and people i have met. shit!!! didn't notice it til now. met up with jason and betty. they are back from ger. were in the army there. is two inches snow on trail. we put up tarp to keep snow from blowing in on us. earlier red dog walked into some town and brought back pizza for all of us. what a treat. had a good fire going too. is in the 20's tonite.            03/10/04 WED.         pack still too heavy. might buy a tarp.moonpie,haiku,stiffie and i hitched into franklin tn. today and i got a charger for my cell phone. caught ride in with nightstalker. had a junker pickup. thought we were all goners going around those mt. curves. and he was talking strange. said for us to leave backpacks with him and he would slack us up the trail a ways. no one took him up on it. ate at wendy's.got a ride back out with norm roberts who said he was a walkin talkin fund. christian. didn't tell him i was a liberal. ha. was going to do a short day but pushed on. staying under the wayah bald observation tower. jason and betty went on along with haiku and alex. it was spooky in that tower all nite. thought i heard a bear out in the woods and then cracking and popping like something crashing thru the woods. got out of my tent twice to shine light out there. saw nothing. finally figured out what it was. my tyvek ground cloth was flapping and the sound was traveling out of the dungeon like place i was staying. stupid huh. even echoes when you fart and sounds like a bomb going off.was cold and scared most of the nite.         03/11/04 THURS.            16 milesam cooking breakfast on the stone ledge on the tower. cold but a beautiful viewcan see the town of franklin down below.started out at 8;15. met bearbag hanger. walked thru snow all day. staying at rufus morgan shelter tonite with jason and betty. jason had a nice campfire going.         03/12/04 FRI.            7:30 got into nantahala. met mule and rodda. from brooklyn. rodda is from abzerbaigain in russia. got a room at the nantahala ctr. $20 did my laundry. nice place. river runs right thru it. rapids. lots of rafters. looked at new tent. my tent has too much condensation. going to all you can eat for lunch. 8 oz. cheeseburger. fries. going to make up a bounce box. got my mail drop. treated my little blister. so far so good. had met joe alman and sons, trip, chris. fiance elizabeth. they took us into bryson city and had dinner at a pig bbq place. joe and his family are out kayaking. super family. they are from noonan ga. dharma, jason, and betty went along. joe runs a tree service. is also a motocross racer. they all have bikes.            03/13/04 SAT. DAY 11 MILE 150         16 miles today.had coffee with joe and family this morn. and they were going to mail my postcards so i wouldn't have to wait for p.o to open to get stamps.staying at fork gap shelter with moonpie and haiku started out at 8:45. too many miles but no water in between. got up this morn. had a shower. did not sleep well. treated blister. quiet evening tonight at shelter. talked to mary and had argument. she still doesn't trust me. she is upset cause i didn't tell her there are women out here on the trail. well guess what no offense but the women out here are not looking for lay in the hay. especially after hiking and sweating and stinking to high heaven most of the time. all any of us want to do after a day hiking is eat supper and go to bed. felt guilty all nite. but you know what i am going to stay out here and do this anyway. i am 64 yr. old and if i don't do this i will always say i should have. people i know say i should do this or do that but never get to it. well i am doing it so kiss my rosy red ass. better than going to hyvee every damn day drinking coffee and gossiping. then die. iam going to get the hell out and do something that challenges my mind and my body and to hell what the old fuddy duddies say about me. had mouse in the shelter last nite.            03/13/04 SUN. DAY 12 MILE 161                  fontana hilton shelter had a warm nite in my sleep and bag and liner. had ramen and a poptart for supper last nite. this morn had oatmeal and coffee. and another poptart. met kris beckham and his ladyfriend from s.c. picked me up at the visitor ctr. took me back to shelter.nate and calista from murphy n.c. gave me some mac and cheese. and big piece of chicken. danny is her son. has a skate board. met their grandma beryl stansfield. moonpie's friend katy who has hiked the entire trail,met us at the fontana hilton shelter and gave us a ride to groc. went to motel there and sent emails. the fontana dam is highest east of mississippi.tva dam.