Date: 2016-04-12
From: Peak of Standing Indian

To: Franklin N.C
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Tuesday April 12We got up to everything sopping wet but that tent is now worth every penny of the $400 I paid for it. Other than the clothes we got wet from the ordeal that night, not a drop. My hats off to Big Agnes. It made no sense to try and dry everything out. I again listened to the radio and the forecast was for the rain to be gone by noon with sun and near 70 temps. I made breakfast that I did not eat so I closed the foil bag and decided that I would eat it later on so I put it into my backpack until then. I started out up the big hill and behind me wsa another camper from Standing Indian that caught up. We decided to hike together for the day. He was in his mid twenties and I could tell by his comments the night before that he was more likely to be homeless rather than a planned hiker. He made a few comments about his dad being and ex Marine, that they would at times have fights and that he wsa thrown out of the house. He was overall a good person yet hardended by what was a hard life. I had confidence he would somehow come through his past as he was dedicated and focused. We came across an actual Park Ranger which was odd considering we were not in a National Park but rather a National Forest. Apparently a rescue operation wsa in progress looking for an elderly single male who called his daughter somehow from the mountain to inform her that he had fallen and injured his leg on a ledge and could not get up. The Ranger stated the gap just ahead of us as the possible location and I immediately thought of Joel. There were too many coincidences to be anyone other than him. I asked the ranger if there was way to catch the group I was with stating they are mostly likely about an hald day ahead. He provided directions that would bypass a Ranger forest fire watch tower but would require us to hike 14 miles non-stop to reconnect with the trail farther down. It would not reduce miles but would eliminate the short but brutal climb to the top of the mountain where the tower stood. Off we went all the time thinking about this guy Joel that we now connected with over the last few days.By noon the skies began to clear as predicted and the temps climbed. We stopped to remove all but one layer as I was sweating like a pig in heat if there is such a thing. We somehow missed a turn and ending up actually in front of our target of Rock Gap Shelter and had to back track about a half mile. We reached the shelter around 4:30 and I for one wad dead tired and sore all over. I simply ws not even interested in making dinner and just sat there when like out of a movie this woman around 50 years old comes up the trail and ask us if we would like hre to cook us chicken. She by her dress was not a hiker and looked more like a mountain woman in a full length sun dress. We looked a little bewildered but said yes so hse said give her about an hour and then come down to the forest service road about a quarter mile way. It was now a perfect sunny day with warm winds so we hike down and there was a Winnebago type camper with mountain bikes strapped to the front, kyaks on the roof and grills cooking chicken tendered by the fifty something tall lean guy with a hat having miltary badges and pins on it. It turns out these are the so-called Trail Anges we have met so far and he was a retired Aramy Ranger instructor who now just travels up and down the trail from Georgia to Maine living life to the fullest and enjoying making hikers days with a hot meal. As we sat and ate chicken and fahitas we chatted with them. You could tell they loved their life and what they did and have been doing this for years. They apparently met three or so years earlier doing the entire hike and got together.As I sat and ate I came to the realization that these are the real people of the world that will be missed when they pass. Most likely no long newspaper obitualries or big funerals but the numbers that will remember them and miss them will be measured not in the hundreds or even thousands but litterally the tens of thousands. Talk about making a mark in life like that.After dinner Norm and I decided that we would get up early, skip breakfast and get to the Winding Stair intersection withthe local highway and get a ride into Franklin for a down day. We had 4 miles to make in two hours to catch a shuttle and knew that we had to hoof.After dinner and County EMS vehicle came up to us to get information on the lost hiker. All I could think of it was Joel and he spent the night in pouring and freezing rain lost on a mountain top. The EMP person stated that the guys wife called and that he had alzheimers. Based on the way Joel answered questions I was now convince it was one and the same so I asked if he was 67, from Georgia, wearing a red jacket and had long greying hair. He said yes and now my fear was confirmed as was the EMS staffof who they were looking for. We could hear helecopters circling the mountain tops. I knew that going to bed that night would be sad knowing someone that I met and talked to spent a terrible night in pouring rain injured and stuck somewhere on a mountain. Even worse was the fear that there was a real possibility he might not survive due to hypothermia. My thoughts went out for him and his family.Off to bed and a great night sleep as the temps stayed in the 40ies. As we laid in the shelter two other women were there too, both reading books. One had a red light on her head to read. Another hiker came by and commented on the right light glowing from the shelter and commented that it looked like a red light district. So another naming convention arose and everyone other than her of course voted to call her Shelter-Ho. She did not seem pleased as she was concerned her being in law enforcement would get ribbed from her peers if they figured out it was hers. I told her that it was going intom my journal with that name and she just smiled.... but who's law enforement will go with me to my grave.