Date: 2007-04-12
From: Spivey Gap

To: Sam's Gap
Miles today: 13.6

Thursday, April 12, 2007Spivey Gap to Sam¢s Gap, 13.6 milesStart 7:20, temp in high 40¢s, windy.   Track is damp this morning, there was a lot of rain yesterday evening, but in most places the footing is sure, only in a few spots is it soft.I¢m going North to South and Memere, Gray Feathers are going South to North. They are taking Dorothy and Toto to Sam¢s Gap where those 2 will hike out to Nolichucky, over 24 miles. I¢ll leave the Element for them to drive themselves back to the Super 8.Masses of spring beauties. Dwarf buttercups.The way the sunlight plays off hemlock needles is like it plays off beech leaves in NZ. Glancing reflections.Pass by a big rock slab on my left.Lousewort leaves.8:50 Whistling Gap. Target practice riddles the green and white AT sign.Try to catch the morning bird sounds on tape. A very melodious one today. Up high in the treetops, whitish breast.Hello to NOBO Mountain Mike, heading for Nolichucky.Several juncos, looking like a cross between NZ robins and NZ fantails.Hello to NOBO Texas, started in February.Shelter sign, Spivey Gap 5.6, Sam¢s 8. I hike on.Take a break before Big Bald, eat and drink and put on warmer clothes because the winds are picking up and it¢s cold.Woods OD'ing on spring beauties.Hello to Dorothy and Toto on windy Big Bald. They are doing 24.5 miles today!!!!Hello to Memere and Gray Feathers on the other side of Big Bald. We sit together while they eat lunch. Along comes NOBO Stretch. She¢s from PA, then NH, now Raleigh NC. She¢s discovered Crocs are comfortable to hike in and don¢t cause blisters like her sneakers do. She says there¢s a man about a week behind her, hiking barefoot. It¢ll be interesting to meet him, if we do. Stretch says many hikers have a gimmick. She says other hikers may think she has one too when they see her hiking uphill backwards. She does that for short pieces of the trail to give her Achilles tendon a rest.Memere and Gray Feathers ascend Big Bald and to get out of the wind, they lay right down. Beautiful up there, they say. We almost fell asleep.Hello to a Dad, son and their dog, local residents out on a day hike, up to the summit of Big Bald.Hello to a young man section-hiking from Sam¢s Gap to Damascus. Sorry I did not get your name.Hello to NOBO Yard Sale, hiking it a skirt. He¢s got a walkie-talkie just like Memere¢s that he says he uses for weather forecasts. He says he gets better weather info on this unit than on a radio.Hello to NOBO Granite, started March 15.Hello to NOBO Terrapin Flyer and her dog Murray, who just got the trail name Teflon last night because he was muddy and dirty when they turned in for the night and in the morning he was clean as a whistle. Terrapin Flyer thruhiked in 1993. The biggest difference between 1993 and 2007 she says is technology. In 1993 no one checked email or kept electronic journals. Today they rush to access the internet as soon as they come in from hiking. Terrapin Flyer started March 15.Hello to NOBO¢s Frito and Silver. Frito has section-hiked the whole trail except for Katahdin (due to bad weather) in large sections of 500 miles. He used to work for Frito-Lay and would park his truck at trailheads, filled with bags of fritos for the thruhikers. When he gets to Katahdin this year, he¢ll summit it twice. He may become a record-holder for the shortest consecutive 2000-miler hikes.Hello to NOBO Diamond, started March 7. She calls herself a long-section hiker, the long section she hopes will be from Springer to Katahdin. Once she reaches Katahdin Stream she¢ll reclassify herself as a NOBO thruhiker.Hello to NOBO¢s Hobo from New Orleans started March 7 and Flint from West Virginia staterd March 5, followed by a friend of Flint¢s who has joined them for a short section.Hello to NOBO Gorilla, thinks he¢ll camp a little past Big Bald and head into Erwin tomorrow.Hello to section-hiker Otter, who teaches fifth grade in Delaware. I love seeing teachers on the trail. What examples for their students. Otter, Vanessa, Valerie, Lin. Otter has hiked from Springer to here on his breaks from school.Hello to NOBO BooBoo from Cleveland started March 9. She had to take some time off due to blisters and then ligament issues. When she came into the shelter, her feet hurt. Who was in the shelter but a massage therapist. A section-hiker. She gave BooBoo a foot massage complete with balm, trail magic!!!Hello to NOBO¢s Lucky and his brother Packrat from Tampa.Hello to NOBO to James from Sacramento started March 21. He has to be done by July 31 to start graduate school. A strong hiker. He says he¢ll have to push a little faster than he¢d like.Out at 4:00PM.