Date: 2006-09-10
From: sassafrass gap (?)

To: campsite past blue ridge gap
Miles today: 12.7

======2003====== friday, february28, day 7forgot to mention that yesterday we ran across some trail magic¢¦¢¦..coosa had left a jug of water and some fuel¢¦¢¦.we helped ourselves to a little water¢¦.thanks,coosa!......well¢¦we woke up to such fog this morning¢¦¢¦everything was wet (it was damp anyway from the rain yesterday)¢¦..but we managed to get up and out by 8:00 (freezing!)*¢¦.looked like the rain might be over though and by about 11:00 the sun gloriously began to come out!nothing too difficult on the trail today¢¦.it was very pleasant!...at dick¢s creek gap we stopped at the road (to hiawassee) and spread all our gear out to dry¢¦..how GOOD the sun felt!.....there were even picnic tables so we had a nice lunch and a place to relax*¢¦.we saw 2 other hikers down at the road hitch a ride toward town (presumably to the ¢bluberry patch¢)¢¦..then vic and irish showed up and were gracious to let us use their phone* to call mom and dad, but we were in the gap so they really couldn¢t hear me very well¢¦.we were trying to confirm our rendezvous with them on the 3rd in franklin¢¦..i think (I hope) we got the message across¢¦¢¦.after we ¢saddled up¢ and left vic and irish who i think were going into town,we hiked up to the next summit and to thank them for helpin¢ us out with the use of their phone, we left a pie for them in a baggie hanging from a tree ¢¦..hope the critters don¢t get it!wish I wasn¢t so tired so i could remember more of the day*, but i¢m thinkin¢ all i wanna do right now is snuggle down with my killeen* and rest, rest, rest!....hiking the trail, i think, is a good analogy to being ¢born again¢¢¦..(more on that another time)¢¦..big day tomorrow¢¦¢¦prayin¢ the Lord will help us¢¦¢¦.after supper tonite i read about the feeding of the 5000¢¦¢¦what compassion our Saviour has for the hungering!======2006======saturday, february 18, day 7, 5 miles to dick¢s creek gapsleepin¢ in till 7 AM here¢¦..don¢t hafta rush out today¢¦¢¦i don¢t know how far it is to the blueberry patch¢¦.. our new schedule seems more difficult to figure out than the one the ristoms helped us with*¢¦..charlie thought 5 miles when he looked at it last night ¢¦.now he thinks maybe its more like 8-10¢¦..(we wanna hike¢¦.not do math!)yesterday i thought how climbing a mountain was sort of like mounting a horse¢¦..that strange feeling of smallness up on an unfamiliar creature¢s back and the wonder of being firmly supported there¢¦¢¦only, that feeling¢s a thousand times more intense up on the saddle of a mountain!.....high up on those shoulders¢¦.so massive!....the ¢hollers¢ so, SO deep¢¦¢¦¢¦one place we walked along, the wilderness was so vast and the ridges so steep and quiet* that i thought, ¢this would be kinda scary without killeen!¢¢¦(if not scary at least a little intimidating!)¢¦¢¦.i¢m so grateful for paw-ee¢s companionship¢¦for all his help¢¦.i don¢t think I could do this without him¢¦..i also thought about the trail volunteers and all their hard work¢¦(being a gardener I KNOW how quickly mother nature can ¢erase¢ a pathway with weeds and fallen limbs and such)¢¦.without these fine people who maintain the trail and the surrounding wilderness there would literally be no AT or thru- hike experience!.....the tragic irony?....while these caring volunteers selflessly give of themselves to protect AT lands, others in similar places not so far away are tearin¢ down these mountains* without a thought to how it might affect their lives or the lives of their children!....oooooh! don¢t get me started!well¢¦after some very cold rain (but fortunately only about 5 miles of it afterall), we made it to the blueberry patch hostel¢¦¢¦.it took us a while to hitch a ride (i think because of the miserable weather)¢¦..cold and shivering we stood by the side of the highway praying that someone would have mercy and pick us up¢¦.. fortunately, after about 20 minutes, a nice couple from NC came to our rescue (i guess my brain was frozen ¢cause I failed to get their names, but thank you whoever you are!)never have we met such nice or inspiring (or HUMBLE ) hosts as gary and lenny poteet!....SO very nice!...SO very hospitable!....i ¢well up¢ when i think of lenny¢s smile as i tried to thank her for washing my clothes and she replied, ¢ well it¢s allright!...i¢m not doing anything Jesus wouldn¢t do!¢¢¦..INDEED!....... and gary too!.....what a testimony this guy had to God¢s participation in their lives and how HE miraculously made a way for them to offer His love in this beautiful little place in the mountains!...i was in tears after hearing his story!.....what GENUINE Christ-lovers!.....i always am thinking about ways we might host a hiker hostel someday¢¦.i¢d love to do it¢¦¢¦.but for now, i reckon it¢ll hafta remain a matter of prayer¢¦..spoke with carli on the phone a minute ago¢¦..she said she was relieved that we called¢¦..they were havin¢ an ice storm and were concerned about our weather out here¢¦..i assured her we were fine here at the ¢patch¢¢¦¢¦she said she was so glad we weren¢t sleeping out in the storm¢¦..virginia had called as well,worried about our welfare¢¦¢¦my prayer was for THEM ¢¦..that the Lord would keep them safe and sound with electricity,etc¢¦¢¦..hope we can worship with the poteets tomorrow morning¢¦.oh¢¦¢¦others here are rubin (ol¢ wrongway)¢¦and katy and harry (robin¢s nest and batman)*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS-------*freezing¢¦¢¦sleeping warm was never a problem¢¦. It was getting up and into damp,cold clothes that hurt!.....for hiking in the winter rain i used homemade neoprene mittens¢¦.charlie ended up using mostly plastic bags (in¢03)¢¦..in ¢06 the precipitation was usually snow , so regular fleece gloves were fine*picnic tables¢¦..what a blessing benches were!...one of the things we missed most from home were real chairs!*phones¢¦.we didn¢t carry them, but some folks did¢¦.i remember a funny scene from the wawayanda shelter in ¢06 where half a dozen hikers were pacing around after supper with phones glued to their ears, tryin¢ to get reception to yell their love to folks on the other end!....i WAS extremely grateful once at the graymoor pavilion in NY to tentpeg who ordered up pizza for all of us on his phone¢¦..thanks tentpeg!*writing journals¢¦¢¦sometimes awfully difficult in the evenings when all you wanted to do was eat, lay down and sleep!....but i managed and SO glad i did¢¦.we have enjoyed ¢re-living¢ our hikes through these dirty, little dog-earred pages¢¦.in the shelter registers we always began our entries with ¢Xaipnrn¢¢¦..greek (kah-ee-ray-tay)¢¦.it is a happy greeting (a translation of Jesus¢ ¢ hello¢ and joyful blessing to the women at the tomb¢¦matthew 28:9)¢¦and one we wished to pass on to all who read our entries¢¦. ¢Xaipnrn¢ ,with all the peace, joy, love and life it embodies, remains our desire for all who read our words*killeen¢¦..sometimes I call paw-ee killeen¢¦.his mom¢s maiden name was the irish, ¢killen¢, for which an irish monk once told him the pronunciation was ¢kill-een¢*tearin¢ mountains down¢¦¢¦.i often complained in shelter registers in ¢06 of the unbelievably horrid practice of Mountain Top Removal (for coal)¢¦..to see and learn more about MTR, go to ovec.com or appvoices.com to view how this practice is destroying the land and people of appalachia!*ristoms schedule¢¦.our good friends compiled an easy-to-read schedule for us similar to the data book but with a little more info in list form¢¦.thanks guys!*quiet¢¦..in the wintertime birdsong is, for the most part, absent from the woods