Date: 2003-06-17
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: light rain

Today I hiked from Hogback Ridge Shelter to Bald Mountain Shelter ¢ about ten miles. It seemed like a long day, but I arrived about 3:15, after leaving around 7:30 this morning. I did not have lots of water available this morning and decided to hike three miles to the nearest water source and cook a big meal for ¢brunch¢, so I ate a pop tart and started out. There were several ¢smaller¢ steep climbs today. I got to Sam¢s Gap about 9:00. A large road construction crew was there working on a bridge and the extension of I26 from Asheville, North Carolina. Several of them stopped and talked with me for a few minutes, and one man was especially interested in asking questions about my Asolo boots. Crossing the road and construction area, I climbed the grassy bank and entered the woods. A little further I found a cooler with bottles of Gatorade and some fruit. The fruit was spoiled, but the Gatorade was great! I drank a bottle and left the empty with the others. This was compliments of ¢Ropeyarn¢, a 2001 AT thru hiker. Thanks! The Gatorade really hit the spot and refreshed me. About 1.5 miles further I found a water source, filtered some water and found a site to cook a little while later. While I was doing that Rub-A-Dub-Dub came through and said he had stayed the previous night at Bald Mountain Shelter. He also said about half a dozen men and two women had stayed there too, so I would meet them ahead today. I did meet the men, plus two ¢slackpacking¢ ladies, who were being shuttled by ¢Miss Janet¢ from Erwin, TN. Miss Janet is well known for her hostel and for shuttling hikers who slackpack (hiking with just a light day pack with the essentials, from a road back to town or from a road in one gap for drop-off, to a road in another gap for pickup). The major climb today was up Big Bald. This was extremely difficult for me ¢ a very long and steep climb. Big bald was beautiful. No trees but just a huge mountain covered with only grasses and wildflowers. The summit was socked in with clouds, fog and mist part of the time, and then opened up so I was able to view surrounding mountains and get some pictures. You lose perspective as you climb on a totally open mountaintop, being unable to judge distances, and thinking the summit is near, but really continuing on with new higher sections coming into view. In the fog it was scary, with warning signs down below mentioning hikers becoming lost and even losing their lives in bad weather, any time of year. There was some kind of radio tower, almost just a post with an antenna on top, so when I saw that coming into view I assumed, correctly, that was the top. I spent some time just looking down to the valleys and out to distant ridges when the clouds would open up. It was a rival in beauty to Max Patch, maybe even surpassing Max Patch for sheer awesome grandeur. The walk to the shelter was about a mile from the summit and pretty easy. When I arrived the two women who were at the shelter last night were still here; having heard it was going to rain heavily all day. It really only rained in brief and (mostly) light storms today, but they had decided to take a zero day at the shelter and try to stay dry. They are from West Virginia. They are both Christians, and one is a teacher and the other a mineworker for U. S. Steel, in a coal mine. They were very pleasant to talk with and interested in my homemade Pepsi can stove and pot stand. Since I brought an extra stove and my hike is nearly over I gave them my spare stove and talked with them about how to make them. They apparently hike regularly and enjoy hiking together. It was good to sit and talk, and I relaxed from 3:15 until 6:30 when the CREW group from last night arrived. We quickly made room for them in the shelter, and they moved some of my gear off the picnic table while I was at the privy so they could cook, and tossed my journal tablet aside. I can¢t help but believe they are very nice folks, but somewhat only looking out for themselves. I feel very tired tonight, so I hope I can get some sleep. Maybe I will take some Tylenol PM¢s? Tomorrow I will hike about 10.5 miles to No Business Knob Shelter for my last night on the trail. Then on to Erwin, TN Thursday to meet Marlene. That will be great. A little later two young couples arrived. Two of them set up in the shelter, and the others set up in their tent. This is a pretty big shelter, so with all of us here, there is still plenty of room to be comfortable. Tomorrow will be a good day to have my last campout and jump off point for the end of the trip. Very tired. Goodnight Sweetheart. dp