Date: 2016-04-25
From: Long Branch Shelter

To: Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

Ok. I made it up Albert Mt. On my own. Well, with help of a few trees to pull myself up over the horrid rocks. They were lovely big boulders but no place to put your foot to climb up and over. I'd stand at the base and just study and study and test it out. It was a challenge but I tried to be sure every step was secure before I pushed off. And I did it! Yeah!All day I heard, go to Long Branch Shelter. It's new and the stream of water is really good. Well, yes, the shelter was built in 2012, and the stream was great for getting water, but the tent sites were awful! There were hardly any and those were down steep hills and were either muddy or uneven. Somehow I was first there, and I grabbed the flattest, but dirty one. There was literally one tree limb fit to hang a bear bag, and no one was there to watch me, so for the first time, I attempted to throw a rock over the limb. Pam had done it for us the first two weeks and since then I have been able to play the grandma card and walk around asking if anybody sees a good tree to hang a bear bag, and always some nice guy volunteers to hang mine with his. (For those who might be wondering, it is wise to hang all your food, your toiletries, or anything that has a scent up in a tree so that bears or other critters can't get to them.)I got the rock over on the third try. Not bad. But my bag was too heavy (from fresh resupply) and I couldn't pull it up and it felt like the limb was going to break. Back to Plan A. A nice gentleman hung mine with his on the same tree limb, just at a different spot.Dinner went fine in the shelter until I heard that there was a trail magic cooler of cold drinks back at Mooney Gap. WHAT!! How did I miss that?? Oh a Diet Coke would have been such a treat.A young crowd arrived and moved into the shelter and I was sick and tired of fighting the ridiculous hilly campsite, so I crawled in my tent at 6:15 and I was out. Sound asleep. In the morning the battle continued. Uh oh. Our bear bags were stuck in the tree. It took some real work to untangle them and get them lowered. The poor guy was trying to be nice to me and he almost lost his own bag.Then I visited with a lady who was out hiking with her husband. Yesterday was her first day to join him. She said her legs were sore because she did 17 miles. Well, that depressed me! I couldn't even think of doing 17 miles and I've been out here 3 weeks. I packed up all my stuff, dirty and muddy, and climbed the wretched hill out of that camp. I got just a ways down the trail when I realized I didn't have my glasses on. Oh no! They could only be still in the head netting of the tent or they were on the ground somewhere back at my tent spot. So I stopped right there and had to unpack my pack and pull the tent out. Yes! I could feel them in the tent. But the tent was all zipped up and I had to wrestle with it to get it all right side out, unzipped, and pull the glasses out. I got my pack all loaded again and started out down the trail. But in all the frustration, I didn't see the "Shelter" sign which is where I should have turned north. So I walked about 50 yards the wrong way until I caught it and got turned around. And since then I've been doing my thing, hiking up and down hills. Hate the ups, like the downs. My husband says hate is a strong word. Well, today I'm going to stick with hate. It was on a flat spot, though, that I took my first fall. Whammo, I was down. I have no idea what happened. But there was a young girl hiker right behind me and we got my pack off and I got up and I am perfectly fine. She assured me that she fell a few days ago and I could see the scratches and bruise on her leg to prove it. It's true. We all fall down out here sooner or later. A fall without injuries...phew! I was relieved.I've been sitting near the top of this mountain writing. The breeze feels good and I think I'm about to start a long downhill. Things are looking up!It is very tempting to call for a ride back into Franklin. Holiday Inn Express! But so far I'm resisting. I'll let you know...Well, it's not the Holiday Inn, but yes, I'm at the Budget Inn in Franklin. I told myself if there was a ride at the gap, I'd take it, and just as I arrived Ron Haven's free shuttle to the Budget pulled up. And I said YES!!Now for some good news.I passed 100 miles when I got to the top of Albert.And I woke up this morning and my heel did not hurt! Crisis averted for now.Back to the mountain in the morning.