Date: 2013-04-05
From: Mother Miriam's Hostel

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 13.4

(In which I get back on the Trail and into an ice storm)I am definitely getting back on the Trail today, and so is Woodrow. We are packed and shuttled off to the Trail by 1000. As we are dropped off at the Sams Gap parking lot, an unfamiliar hiker arrives from the south. This is Barbara, still without a trail name, from Maine. I chat briefly about Maine, the Trail thus far, and New Jersey, before the three of us separate out to our own paces. Woodrow pulls ahead and Barbara falls behind, with me somewhere in the middle.I am pleased to find my energy returning to me as I resume walking. Today I really need all the energy I can muster. The weather was supposed to be clear and mild and somewhere that might be the case. However, the weather here was recently freezing rain, and this morning I am pelted with ice as it melts from the trees. The weather is warm enough to rapidly bring the ice off the trees, but I am also walking in a cloud and that adds to the ice and melt to make me immediately become wet. The large chunks of ice are not slick like snow or a sheet of ice would be, but they slow my movement. In some places my feet have to crush down several inches of ice with each step.I catch up to two older men filtering water shortly after I start the ascent up Big Bald. They are locals out for a section hike, and it seems they were loosely grouping with Barbara. I stop to replenish my water and she catches up to us. She presses on and I start moving shortly afterward. I take the lead going uphill, but keep a slow pace so I can make conversation. Off to the right I spot some structures, and I jump off the Trail to investigate. There is a road here, probably the one that leads to the parking near the top of Big Bald. The structures look like they are just for utilities or maintenance, and offer no shelter from the weather.As the climb gets steeper and pushes through more ice, I pull steadily away from Barbara. The cloud that has lingered around me all day thins out near the top of the mountain, and sometimes I glimpse blue skies overhead. When I reach the edge of the bald, I am under a cloudy blue sky. Clouds hang low on the sides of the mountains around me, and I can look back down into the clouds I had been walking through all morning. It is muddy up here, so I just stop a couple times to shoot photos before moving on.This is an extensive bald, and I descend into a saddle and back up another climb without entering the trees. I find a promising rock to rest against near the far edge of the bald, and break here. I have brought a three-pound bah of apples away from the trailhead, and I break out one of those apples now. Barbara catches up to me here, and I offer her an apple. After she eats it she tries tossing it over the trees, but the apple core does not clear the treetops. I stab my apple core onto the tip of a trekking pole and launch it over the trees. It works better than I imagined, and when I catch sight of the apple it is a speck sailing through the air in the distance.We descend to nearby Bald Mountain Shelter. It is a wet, dirty affair and we do not stop for long here. Barbara is planning to camp at Spivey Gap at fairly low elevation. I was considering a push to No Business Knob Shelter five miles more distant, but since I plan to just go into Erwin tomorrow I don't really have to push miles. Erwin will be a 12-mile walk from Spivey Gap. We decide to check out the campsite at the gap, and from there determine if we will push forward or camp. I move out and Barbara falls in behind me.While Barbara moves slow uphill, her pack as heavy as mine, she moves at least as fast as me downhill. She keeps up with me descending from Big Bald, falls behind a bit on the ascent of Little Bald, and catches back up on the sharp descent from Little Bald. Progress is faster now, as the ice has melted away. Little Bald itself is a letdown - recent balds have offered great scenery, but this one offers no views and no visible bald patch. I stop at Whistling Gap briefly, and then again at the side trail to High Rocks. I can see the rocky outcrop above me, and climb up the side trail to check it out. Barbara opts against the side trail, continuing downhill toward Spivey Gap.The view up at High Rocks from the Appalachian Trail is probably more interesting than the view down from the rocks, as I soon find out. The Trail passes close under the rocks, against a vertical stone face not obstructed by vegetation. From here it is all downhill to Spivey Gap. I walk right to the road, not seeing any campsite. Before I push on to the shelter, Barbara calls to me from the stream crossing behind me. The side trail to the campsite is concealed well behind low branches, and the muddy patch next to the side trail meant I had been looking at the ground and not looking for a side trail.I decide to camp out here, although the best spot to hang my hammock is still questionable unless I move far from the campsite. We start talking about pizza, as we had been earlier. I try calling town to see if I can get pizza delivered to the trailhead nearby. The signal is not strong enough to communicate anything meaningful either way, and I give up. As a reaction, we concoct an unusual plan for tomorrow. There is probably not time to walk into Erwin for the 1100-1400 pizza buffet at one of the eateries. However, maybe we can hitchhike into town, eat pizza, drop off our packs at the hostel, and hitch back to the Trail to slackpack the 12 miles into town. Then we can eat pizza again. Satisfied with this strange plan, I retire to sleep for the night.Peace,