Date: 2005-04-10
From: Ice Water Shelter (tent)

To: Cosby Knob Shelter (Tent) 
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 25Woke up after a great nights sleep. Out of camp by 8am another beautiful day in store. It was a pretty easy hike till I reached Charlies Bunion. A spectacular view from an edge of a cliff like mountain. The guidebook uses precipitous slope several times. I don¢t have my dictionary handy, but I assume it means fall to your death. The views for most of the day were extraordinary. The trail runs along a ridgeline dives down into gaps and comes right back up. Sometimes the trail was pretty thin and straight down on both sides. We¢ve been traversing through spruce-fir forest, reminds me of up north. Love the smell. It¢s in a period of decline down here mostly due to insect attack and disease. I walked with Mello-Yellow who hiked in 2003. He¢s out here hiking with his mom (Mama-Mello). They are doing the Smoky Mtns. I also saw Socks. The trail never really got tough. The grade was gentle and scenery was everywhere. In the middle of the trail was a japanese gentleman that apperntly speaks little english. He was leaning on his pack and his water was squirting out his blatter hose. I tell him and he points down the trail and says yes water! I try again and the same. So i decide if i move on he'll stop leaning on his pack and all will be good. I got to Tri Corner Knob Shelter before 2pm. I filter some water and had lunch. It was too early to quit for the day. I already had done 12 miles and it was 8 more miles to the next shelter. So off I go skipping down the trail. Had the headphones on for a couple hours. There hasn¢t been much snow and the mud was only bad in a few areas. There were a couple tricky blow-downs (tree¢s that have fallen across the trail). Earlier in the morning I had passed a Ridge Runner trying to cut the branches off with his Swiss Army knife. Turns out he hiked the A.T. the same year I did. We never met, but knows a pile of the same people. Ridge Runners hike along the trail explaining, ¢leave no trace¢ to thru-hikers and anyone who will listen. They also clear the trail, clean the shelters and so on. I think his name was Shatter and in ¢99 it was Mindshatter. He asked how many were at the last shelter? i said: i thought it was pretty full, but their were about 8 tents. He seemed a little upset about the tenting. He wasn't twitching & shaking, but there was definately a frown of disapprovment. Anyway, outside of chatting with Mello-Yellow I¢ve had the trail to myself. I spent a couple hours dodging horse shit on the trail. I¢m not sure on the rules since we are in the Smokies. They seem to really rant about human waste, meanwhile horseshit is in big piles on the trail. Well at least I won¢t get bored. All that stood between the shelter and me was Cosby Knob. It was just sitting there looking at me. Saying ¢you should have stayed at the last shelter little boy¢. Yes, it talked. It went up then up some more. I finally arrived at Cosby Knob Shelter by 5:30pm. It look pretty full so I volunteered to camp. I¢m way down by the fire pit. I feel like a sacrifice for the bears. I hope I¢m not eaten on my last night in the Smokies. At the shelter were a lot of people I didn¢t know. I met both Mr. Clean¢s. I think one goes by Sr. & the other Jr. Cycle Hiker is here. He¢s the one who biked down to Springer Mtn from Chicago and is thru-hiking with the bike in his pack. When he reaches Maine he¢ll pedal back to Chicago. Sure it would be easier to FedEx or UPS it up there. On that note public transportation has come a long way. I know I won¢t be pedaling home. I¢m sure his story will make a good book. I was happy to see Serenity is also here. I camped with her & Freedom awhile back. Should be sunny tomorrow. Plan on stopping by Standing Bear Hostel but intend on moving to the next shelter. When I volunteered to camp and everyone seemed to think it wasn¢t a good idea. They had just sheltered with a Ridge Runner who frowned upon it. No doubt the guy i chatted with. So I put it a different way. I said I tend to snore and would rather camp. Then the tone changed, they even pointed out a flat spot¢¦life is good.