Date: 2008-03-28
From: Cable Gap Shelter, NC

To: Fontana, NC
Miles today: 5.5

Last night I was drifting off to sleep, when I heard some yelling and hollering. There were a lot of people at the shelter, so I just assumed it was hikers having a good time. Then I heard snippets of conversation: "...hasn't been seen since Monday..." "we're searching the area..." Two hikers were missing. I debated getting up to see what the situation was, but any hiker I'd seen that day were at that shelter, so I certainly couldn't have provided any clues, and I wasn't positive I wasn't just dreaming the whole thing. This morning I got the scoop from Leaping Turtle: 3 separate search & rescue teams converged on our shelter last night, looking (screaming) for 'Michael' and 'Phillip'. They were expected in Fontana Dam Monday, but never turned up and haven't been heard from. The search parties showed Leaping Turtle photos, and he said they weren't at our site. After a bit, they headed out. Hearing this, we thought, gosh, hope they're ok! Then we found out later: the whole thing was a mock-up. There are a number of search & rescues here at a conference, and part of it is these mock searches. So it was all much ado about nothing! I'm certainly glad no one is really missing. I hiked into Fontana, NC, today. When the trail started descending, you could see the flowers had tightly closed buds. Further along the trail (= further down in elevation), the buds were opening. When we were walking into Fontana (1500 feet lower than our highest point that day) they were in full bloom!! It was like time-lapse photography. It was Grey Ghost's birthday today, so as he hiked by we sang Happy Birthday to him. A little while later he pointed out a toad that was sitting in a hole next to the trail. Grey Ghost said, "He only has to catch one hiker every five years to eat!"Fontana is HIKER FRIENDLY! When the trail spit us out on a main road, there was sign telling us how to call for shuttle, and a land line to call them with. We called and said there were three of us, they said they'd send a shuttle. We're just hanging up the phone when Ox, a Trail Angel, pulls up, and offers us a ride for free. We cancel our shuttle, and all pile in the back of his pickup truck with our packs (Barley and Rain turned up then, so they hopped in too!), and he drives us into town!We get out at the general store, put our packs on the porch, go into the store to buy food for immediate consumption, and sit on the porch in rocking chairs and eat. There were at least ten hikers on the porch at any one time!Sufficiently nourished, I picked up my mail drop (the post office was right next door) and did my laundry while reading my mail. THANK YOU Aunt Janet & Uncle Tom, Natasha, Scott, Big, Ground Control, and Nina! It's a big help to walk into a post office and walk out with letters from friends!We made arrangements to rent a "condo" at Fontana Resort - it's myself, Auntie Mame, V8, Barley, and Rain. It has a porch with a rocking chair, so I'm sitting out here writing my journal and listening to the peepers. It's so nice. Earlier Barley and Rain joined me out here, and I joked that we're on a backpacking trip, and it's a real treat to have a condo tonight - and we're all sitting out on the porch!For some hiker humor, Rain and I hung our food bags from tree in front of our condo. (We hang our food from a tree every night when camping to prevent bears from getting it - but of course that's totally unnecessary to do when you're staying indoors!) Everyone got a laugh out of that. Then I took our food bags down to prevent a hungry hiker from ransacking them!I'm really happy with how my hike is going. To be 150 miles into it, be pain-free, injury-free, and wake up every morning excited to hike that day - well, that's what it's all about. ("It turns out my appetite for hiking is identical to my appetite for chocolate - limitless!" was how I explained it to a friend.)Zero day tomorrow! Thanks for following my journey!