Date: 2009-04-01
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rain started pouring down between 4 and 5am, and I suddenly felt okay about having to pay for my prison cell room, and not being allowed to camp. I got up sometime after 7am, and started gathering my things. I headed over to the restaurant in the rain around 10 past 8 to have breakfast, where I expected to see Mr. Ed and Lightweight, but they were not yet there. A couple of other hikers were sitting in pairs at tables. Sir Richard came in and joined Truckin¢ and another hiker and invited me over there. Not long afterwards, Mr. Ed and Lightweight sat down beside us. The waitress gave us extremely tall mugs of coffee (which cost us $2.11 before tax). I had scrambled eggs and two pieces of French toast, and we had pleasant conversation about music and other things. One of the hikers who had heard me complain about my painful arch bones the night before, said he could show me how to re-lace my boots, which triggered my memory on that section of a foot care book I was trying to get through before starting out on the trail (I never got through it as the hundreds of possible solutions for an assortment of potential problems left me overwhelmed and confounded¢¦). When it came time to pay, Richard dumped a pile of coins on the table, which provoked a lot of laughter. Coins are something that most hikers do not want to carry with them, as they are so heavy, but Richard didn¢t see what was so funny about it. He liked the different colors and imprints, and said, besides, he didn¢t know how much any of them were worth¢¦         While everyone else headed for a last minute stop at the outfitters, or hit the trail, I returned to my room to pack up and try a new shoe lacing pattern. It always seems to take me much longer to pack my backpack after I¢ve spent the night indoors, than after I¢ve slept in my hammock- probably because I spread everything out more when I¢m inside (as well as fitting in all of the newly acquired food and supplies). I did not get out of my room until 10:30, and had my latest start on the trail of this entire trip at 10:50 am. Today¢s terrain began with a 6 mile climb out of "the land which does not see sun until noon". After finding yesterdays¢ descent not nearly as bad as I had read from others, I decided that I was never going to listen to other people¢s accounts of how hard the climbs or descents were. Fueled with a real breakfast, and with my new shoelace pattern immediately alleviating a lot of the pain on my arch bones, I felt happy and powerful once again! The rain had stopped just before I had begun my hike, and everything was well again. I took down that hill with ease! For the first half of my climb, I was alone, but somewhere along the way, in the thick fog, I thought I saw a spotlight ahead. Could someone be just ahead of me? Then, I heard voices! Suddenly, I became half hunting orc and half sprightly nymph. I crouched low to the ground and nimbly and lightly skipped over the slippery rocks in pursuit. Suddenly, I was upon them, and in the light, I saw Mr. Ed and Lightweight! ¢Oh! I have your beef jerky with me!¢ I said. (I heard they were worried about the resupply options in Fontana and I had too much food, so I had offered them some of mine at breakfast). I didn¢t want to stop, as I was enjoying the momentum of my climb, so I said I would see them at the shelter at the top of the hill, and away I went. I passed another group of guys who were lunching on some rocks with a foggy view, and continued to the shelter, where I found Boo-boo, Truckin¢ and another hiker. Boo-boo pulled out the 4 and 1/2 pound phallic, metallic statue that he was carrying all the way to Katahdin (why? I don¢t know¢¦ I got to hold it and it was HEAVY!) He had invited us to camp at Cheoah Bald with him last night, and talked again about spending the night there. I said, ¢You know what? I think 8.1 miles is plenty for me. I think I¢ll call it a day when I get up there, even though it will still be early in the afternoon. ¢ So, I went up there and relaxed all afternoon, enjoyed a nice campfire with the guys, and watched a glorious sunset.      No¢¦ April Fools!¢¦ I told everyone, with a big grin, that I was going at least 6 more miles and maybe 9 until I got to the next shelter. ¢Be careful with those heels,¢ Boo-boo said. ¢Okay!¢ I was feeling good again¢¦      I climbed up to Cheoah Bald, passing Top-of-Gothics-, who was trying to get up there in 3 hours, and who passed me back after I stopped to take off my fleece jacket. He had done a lot of training in the Adirondack Mountains before starting the AT, and was clearly a competitive spirit. I wished I had known that this bald was a much better lunch spot than the shelter, and that other people were timing their climbs, as I would have done the same! The view was quite pastoral with soft greens and blues, reminding me of the Green Mountains in June. Truckin¢ joined us and debated about whether she wanted to move on or not¢¦ Because it was already after 3pm, and I had such a long way to go to get to the next shelter, I continued on my way while they pondered.       At around 5:50 pm, I reached Stecoah Gap, where Hopeful told me to be on April 4th for his trail magic/birthday party (sorry I couldn¢t be there, Hopeful! I was thinking about you and hope you had a great party!). I thought I had about a mile and a half to get to the shelter, but when I got up on the ridge, I saw a sign saying there were 2.4 miles to Brown Fork Gap shelter! Say, what? I thought I would have plenty of daylight to set up my hammock, but now I was worried¢¦ Onward I trudged, but I had no idea that I had yet to climb the steepest hills of the day! With little energy remaining at the end of the day, I slowly stepped up and up, telling myself that I would eventually get there, and that the time I arrived did not matter. A little before 7, I heard voices and saw the shelter down below to my right! I took a moment to collect myself, and headed down the side path. Richard had just finished setting up his tent. ¢How are you, Wendy?¢ ¢I¢m tired¢¦¢      Richard said that he was exhausted- that this day was the hardest one so far, and that he actually felt nauseous at points. Cup-a-Joe, Paul, Monkey Wrench, Lonesome Roads, and Texas Chill were also there, and greeted me. ¢You made it!¢ Texas Chill said. ¢Welcome!¢ Everyone else had set up their shelters in front of the shelter, so I went behind it to look for trees to hang my hammock, so I could have a little privacy. Everyone thought that a little funny because now no one had privacy if they wanted to use the privy behind the shelter, as it had no walls! I set up my hammock faster than I have ever done! Then, I cooked my dinner in front of the shelter with everyone else. Richard had chopped some fresh scallions to have in his dinner, and they smelled SO delicious! Monkey Wrench was typing away on his portal, and Texas Chill was sitting on the ground, writing in his journal. The gnats were out in force and I said we should make a fire to get them to go away, but that idea was met with silence. We cleaned up, hung our bear bags, and called it a night!