Date: 2004-03-20
From: standing indian hostel

To: roaring forks shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

MAR. 20 ? SAT.DAY 18 MILE 258                      starting out at 8 this morning from roaring forks shelter.the day before on my way to standing indian. i met some people on horseback. reese offered me a beer but took a soda instead. had a campfire last nite at standing indian. and a fire in the bunkhouse also. nice day so far. not raining. had oatmeal and a bearclaw with pnut butter on it . hot cocoa. long day but beautiful view from max patch mt. the mt. is a large expanse of green grass ul stiff arm was up there at same time i was. was overwhelming. unlike any mts. i have ever seen. stiffie and i were up there together. then went thru a lot of stream crossings. and thru miles of rhododendron. hate that stuff. feet are taking a beating. too many miles keeping up with those young people. need to slow down. stayed at roaring forks shelter. at shelter were moonpie, katy, haiku, stiffie, capt. hook. and me. rained all nite. glad i was in shelter.             MAR. 21. SUN. DAY 19 MILE 271                     sunny this morn. but cold. met bayou boudreau. a sobo. section hiker. started at rockfish gap on his way to springer mt. then will flipflop. there is a cemetary with two people right out here in the wilderness. elmer gragg (gone but not forgotten) eva gragg died 1940 (absent not gone)on their gravestones. elmer died in 1961. got in to hotsprings. kind of early to stop but is supposed to be down in the 20's tonite so am going to stay at elmer's sunnybank inn. rustic old victorian mansion. lots of history behind it. very nice gentleman running the place. met a hiker i had met a year ago up in mass, i believe. name squirrel meat. he is working for elmer. went to outfitter and got new socks. i had to sleep out in the barn last nite and was cold as hell. i finally went in to the house and laid on the couch. going to get a room in the house for tomorrow nite and stay another day. went to outfitters and used their comp. to email. and made a call to mt. smith about my leaking pack cover. they said would express mail one to me. but i declined. so they will send it to erwin tn. gen. del. pretty good of them i would say. they take care of a.t. hikers. cause they know if word gets out about any disatisfaction they won't be selling much stuff to hikers.            MAR. 22. MON. DAY 20                     saw baltimore jack . is working at the outfitters. asked him if he remembered meeting me up in the whites when he was ascending mt madison and i was coming down. he was smoking a cig. couldn't believe it. said it was good for your lungs cause the sherpa's in nepal smoke. anyway says he is quitting smoking now. just walking down the street her and noticed lot of flowers blooming. pretty town. taking these zero days are nice. resupplied here also. stopped in a hardware store to see if i could buy some gloves. james and dot gentry run the store. salt of the earth people. glad i stopped. james grandmother owned the house i am staying in. the house is called a balladry. moonpie,stiffie, capt. hook, alex, haiku. we all went down to hot springs for a hot tub. was really nice. moonpies mom angela and friend wendy were down to visit. they run rose's tea room in chattanooga, tn. (angela is from zimbabwe and has quite an accent. also the people that work for her at the tea room are from england or ireland.) they treated my sore finger. is a sliver in there and is sore as hell . think they got it out. had a great dinner with elmer. all organic from his garden. had a nice restful 2 days there.                  MAR. 23 TUES. DAY 21 MILE 270                     little laurel shelter left elmer's at 7:30 this morn. hiking out with stiffie. but he will be going on ahead of me is going to try and make a of miles today. so won't see him for a while. nice day today. sunny. is going to jump off lovers leap here because of old girl friend danielle. lol. but i will pick him up out of the water. is a nice wide river we are hiking beside. the french broad river with rapids. feeling good after the day off. so might make some good miles today. hate to lose my hiking buddies. but they are going to make more miles than i will. haiku, moonpie, and stiffie will be trying to make some time. but maybe capt hook and alex will hike about the same mileage as i do. it is nice to be at the same shelter at nite with friends. but there are always others a person can hook up with. that is what is nice about going nobo. make the days go by faster and the nights more enjoyable. not quite as lonesome. but i will go on as long as the spirit says go on. would like to finish the hike but don't know. ate breakfast this morning at the smoky mt. diner. nice quaint little place. was thinking about elmer's place while hiking along here. was a great experience. very comfortable atmosphere and relaxing. elmer is a liberal so got along with him very well. the 4 course vegetarian dinner last nite was delicious. i almost feel guilty for having such a good time out here without my wife mary. would like to have her experience it along with my family. always spend too much money when i stop in town. food and little things i think i need. met four young guys from minn. go to bethel coll. nice guys. just on a week break. day hikes.   a turkey just now flew up right beside me on the trail. scared the hell out of me. they make quite a noise when they take off . don't know how they can miss the branches on the trees when they fly out of here. really tough afternoon. the full pack took its toll on me. but was about 50 deg. today. but cooling off tonite. shoulders hurt from pack being so heavy. and left ankle is sore. haiku, redbeard, and fireball in shelter with me tonite. but decided to pitch tent. was a mistake. need to get rid of this tent and maybe get a tarp. and stay in shelters mostly.