Date: 2006-09-16
From: rufus morgan shelter

To: locust cove gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: scattered clouds

======2003====== thursday, march 6 (our anniversary!), day 1311 HARD miles today! SOOOO exhausted!.....not sure how much i¢ll be able to write, but i¢ll try¢¦¢¦we had rain and thunderstorms ALL of last night, but managed to stay relatively dry¢¦..hiked the mile over to noc at 7:00¢¦¢¦nothing was open¢¦¢¦waited till 8 and persuaded the guy at the outfitters to get our package (even though they didn¢t open till 9*)¢¦.our special anniversary breakfast was a bust (noc was a dark, foggy ¢ghost-town¢)¢¦..so we started right out hiking to cheoah bald¢¦.from 1700 ft at noc to the bald (5000 ft!)¢¦.hardest trail yet¢¦8 miles UP!...and lots of rocks and roots and mud and blow-downs¢¦..we went very slowly¢¦..but, now, you won¢t believe what happened!.....we had just finished lunch at the sassafrass gap shelter and had started up yet another hill when charlie turned around suddenly and, pausing, listened¢¦..he went on a few steps, then turned around again¢¦.¢what is it?¢ i asked¢¦. ¢i hear hikers¢, he said, and then, ¢that looks like bill and diana!¢ ¢¦..i turned and saw that it actually WAS the ristoms, while at the same time hearing their unmistakable signature call, ¢MARCO!¢¢¦i immediately answered, ¢POLO!¢ and began to run back down the trail to meet them!....they had come all that way just to find us and bring us goodies!....what amazing friends!they hiked with us up to the bald and we all had a great time talking and laughing and viewing the ¢world¢!...we continue to be amazed at their kindness!...if only half the world were only HALF as nice as these folks, things would look a lot different¢¦.a whole lot better!.....(for sure, our anniversary turned out better than it started¢¦.we have them to thank for adding some special cheer to our special day!)well¢¦don¢t know if i¢ve said all i need to, but i¢m just too zonked and we¢ve got another huge day tomorrow¢¦¢¦ ======2006======= friday, february 24, day 13 (16 miles to brown fork gap*)WHEW!...a really tough day! cheoah bald first, and then this mountain after stecoah gap last! (we had forgotten about THAT one!)¢¦it was literally straight up, i guess about 1 mile¢¦almost more difficult than cheoah which was 8!)¢¦..But we made good time today which surprised us because we imagined ourselves to be going no more than 12 mile per hour most of the day¢¦. we calculated, however, it had actually averaged out to be 2 mph¢¦(maybe we¢re getting stronger than we thought!)¢¦seems like we¢re still out here ahead of the pack a little(in terms of time, not ability) ¢¦.they are all certain to catch up to us soon¢¦.we may be ahead of spring-breakers for the smokies, too¢¦..it¢s been fun seeing and recognizing particular places, trees, rocks, etc. on the trail from last time¢¦.i gotta get more proficient at using this new-fangled digital camera¢¦.especially for the botany we¢re seeing¢¦.i can¢t remember if i mentioned the mushrooms we saw the other day*¢¦one was a puff-ball type with triangular ¢petals¢ around its base¢¦.another (also puff-ball-ish) reminded me of a jelly fish with tentacle sort of thing-ys at the bottom¢¦¢¦we¢re havin¢ a lot of fun spying out the plants and so forth¢¦.discovered my first teaberry today and gobbled it right down!...what a beautiful day our Creator gave us today!.....read psalm 91 this AM¢¦. ¢¢¦.shall REST under the shadow* of His wing!¢¢¦..i¢m also trying to make my way through the ¢sermon on the mount¢ *¢¦.but THAT offers so much powerful wisdom, that i¢m a little slow at lettin¢ it sink in¢¦.we¢ll be in fontana tomorrow for a good little rest before heading on up to the smokies!*NOTES/OBSERVATIONS/COMPARISONS-------*outfitters at 9¢¦¢¦.thanks to everyone who helped us at noc both years¢¦.you especially saved our lives in ¢03*brown fork gap¢¦.i reckon (that¢s ¢southern¢ for ¢i GUESS¢) we stayed in the shelter¢¦.sorry for the poor recording skills of this slouchy ¢secretary¢¢¦the day so pooped us out that i suppose i was just to tired to remember to post whether we tented or slept in the shelter¢¦.at this writing, i cannot for the life of me retrieve it from my wobbly memory¢¦.*mushrooms¢¦.i actually illustrated these in my paper journal¢¦.alas¢¦i¢m having enough problems trying to record WORDS on this ¢machine¢¢¦.much less drawings!...use your imagination!*shadow of His wing¢¦..it occurred to me while transcribing this that the Presence of our God is so mighty, so awesome, that even the SHADOW of His ¢wing¢ brings protection to those who run there!* sermon on the mount¢¦.some of the teachings of Jesus as related in the book of matthew, chapters 5-7