Date: 2005-05-03
From: Deep Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

6:42 pm - I'm In a Hurry (And Don't Know Why)You see a lot of strange things out on the trail. As a preview of the rest of this entry, here are three things seen over the last two days: 1) a dead rat 2) a foot race 3) hikers in halloween costumes. All of these will be thoroughly discussed at the proper time.After hitting the hotel's complimetnary breakfast (and also the complimentary pint of Ben & Jerry's), Phoenix took a bunch of us to the post office. Immediately thereafter she shuttled Crazy Legs, Low Bridge, Professor and myself to the trailhead sans packs. Yup, we slackpacked and it was glorious. 8.3 miles later, she met us at Indian Brave Gap. The three others went back to town but I loaded up my pack and kept walking. I'd had my fill of town. Phoenix also helped to fill our bellies with some trail magic - soda, chips, brownies, and other snackfood goodness.A mile or two later I reached Beauty Spot, a gorgeous bald with magnificent views. Though the weather was great I felt a bit mellow. I'd talked to a lot of familiar voices the day before. I wasn't homesick, just contemplative. However, the sight of a dead rat on the trail snapped me back into reality. It had fallen victim to some unknown predator. It wasn't a pretty sight and I'm not sure whether to count it as a wildlife sighting.I camped at Deep Gap, braving some strong winds that thankfully died out overnight. I joined Spoon Man, Cup and Cricket, who had all zeroed at the gap. We were joined by Noonin and Vapors before too long; Jude also passed by but continued to the next shelter. At one point, Cricket challenged Cup to a 100 yard footrace. At stake: the loser carries the winner's food bag seven miles to the next road crossing. After surprisingly little to-do and fanfare, Cup easily won.A car pulled up just before dusk and a guy named Detour hopped out. He's done a lot of section hiking and will soon be doing some more, but he was just looking for a free campsite last night. No problem we welcomed him in and he thanked us with some munchies and some wood for the fire. We stayed up late telling jokes and stories. I didn't get to sleep until around 10 pm.I slept in this morning, not waking up until 7:40 am. I sleep well in towns, but I always stay up later than expected. In Erwin, I didn't go to sleep until midnight. You've got to make it up somehow.I hiked a slow and easy 13 miles to Clyde Smith Shelter today, the highlight of which was passing a southbound slackpacking brigade of six thru hikers in halloween costume (where was my camera?! why didn't I shoot any of it??!!). I didn't know most of them, but Saxy Lady was among them dressed as a witch. I also met Panoramic, who was either a tourist or Parrot Head. Argo was also with the group, but not in costume.I pulled in this afternoon around four, killing time by talking with Vapors, Torch, Underground, and Lizard. It's a beautiful evening so I've pitched my tarp. I much prefer a soft forest floor to planks and mice. If I wasn't intentionally going slow I probably would have pushed on. I'm trying to get to Damascus on May 11 but am currently on pace for May 9 or 10. I might zero at Kinkora Hostel if they have some trail work to do (Bob Peoples, the owner, often runs volunteer trail crews - sounds like a good way to kill a day.) We'll see. If I get there early, I'll just have to make do. But for now, it's definitely an odd sensation to try to go slow.[Editor's Note: This is Rob Smith taking over the scribe duties from James. For those of you who don't get to see the raw material, know that Dave can pack a LOT of words into a tiny space. That's all I have to say, I'll leave the rest to Dave/Papa Razzi]