Date: 2004-03-15
From: fontana dam

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

MAR. 15 MON. MILE 176 DAY 13.            stayed at fontana hilton along with moonpie, haiku, and alex who came in late. was good to see him. asked him about jason and betty and he said they were behind us but would catch up. hope so cause they are fun to be with. a group of about 6 kids came in the shelter about nine. they slept in the loft. day hikers.7:45 a.m. leaving visitors ctr. going to take a shower. moonpies friend kady brought some guiness beer. moonpies offered me one. she is like theresa. nobody is a stranger. great gal. i told her i was an alcoholic. and she of course asked me some questions about it. haiku seemed to understand right away. i told her what happened what it was like now etc. she was really good about it . nice to be with people who understand. i appreciate that. headed for mollies ridge shelter which is about 12 miles away. but not sure yet as they say it is a difficult climb up shuckstack mt. then in to the smokies. they tell me if you can stay on top and not go into town it isn't too bad. go as far you can before resupply cause it is a hell of a drop down to town and then you have to climb back out again. i think i have enough food to get thru. we'll see. just ran into graybeard a ridgerunner. from ky. hiked the trail in 99. rained in aft. staying in russel field shelter tonite. really raining now.. fireball is in with me. i have blisters on my heels again. my pack cover leaks. would call mary but the rain beating down on the tin roof is so loud i wouldn't be able to hear. fireball and me only ones here. he is a stitch. short and has a pack as tall as he is and weighs about 50 lbs. he is 60 yrs. old and retired brain surgeon. this morning i was watching him. he got up early to fix his breakfast and he is very meticulous. what an operation. made oatmeal (about 6 scoops)he ate and ate. he has a food bag as big as haiku's pack.             MAR. 16 DAY 14 MILE 191 TUES.               staying at silers bald shelter with capt. hook, moonpie, haiku,fireball,just jim and stiff arm.man did it rain last nite. wind about blew the shelter away. more rain coming. well here am on top of this rocky top mt. with with views in all directions but can't see a damn thing because of the fog. and clouds. the mt. is aptly named. lots of rocks. tough day, rained all morning. lot of climbs. called mary. sort of cold tonite. shelter full. found some trail magic at previous shelter. lots of food left there.         MAR. 17 DAY 15 WED. 7;30 A.M.                     st. pats day. staying at icewater spring shelter tonitecold this morning . fingers are froze. met fits and slips. slips named for a fall on bond creek. fits cause he has fits every nite. right now am walking up a tower to clingmans dome. hightest point on the a.t. quite a sight but clouded in. had a fall coming up the mt. lot of ice on the trail. really treacherous. and left my crampons back at the hostel. damn it. didn't think i would need them. if it weren't for my hiking friends right now don't know if i could make it . they carry me thru. especially that old stiffie. here am on top of this mt. and there is ice and snow and i am scared to death to ascend. but have to go. fell once. most miserable day so far.            MAR. 18 DAY 16 THURS. MILE 219                     staying at tricorner knob shelter.snow rain, and more rain and snow. every thing is wet. even sleeping bag but liner was dry. am cold as hell. then here at the shelter here comes 12 cub scouts in so we have to squeeze them in. they were just miserable. felt sorry for them. got in my bag at 5 p.m/ fell again today. stiffie left a note for me out on the trail. he peed an outline of a kettle with pa in front of it in the snow. sun is shining this morning. was quite a mess getting everyone out of the shelter. stiffie cheered us all up last nite and this morning. he is from concord something, mn. west of rochester. he is a character. been around the world. was on a submarine in the navy. he can speak fluent russian.                   MAR. 19 DAY 17. FRI. MILE 237.                     staying at standing indian hostel. very rustic place.is a tepee here. bunkhouse is made out of branches and saplings that he cut out of the woods here. amazing what he did with this. looks like something out a daniel boone. a stream runs right thru between his house and our bunkhouse. he has food for sale and a place to cook. a fireplace in the bunkhouse. staying here are moonpie, stiffie, deja vu, haiku, capt. hook, eats,maizie,snuffy, aka, sugar daddy, i call him snuffy cause he snuffles all the time. snuffed all nite and kept everybody up. is an egomaniac. (slap my face) moonpie and the others all borrowed hostel van and went into town for a meal. made 18 miles today.         MAR. 20 DAY 18 SAT. MILE 258                  staying at roaring fork shelter.slept ok . is 19 miles to next shelter. if i can't make it i will just camp out. altho it is supposed to rain. will be just be my luck. called home last nite. sisters betty jo and ellie and their families were at out house. i wish i could have been there. my mom has alzheimers they say. guess she does recognize people once in a while. is a shame, mom never did anything bad to any one or ever said a bad word about anyone either. if someone started talking about people she would find something good to say about them. never would swear til she got this disease but now say g damn it. never ever heard her say that before. the hostel i stayed at last nite. run by kris and maria. have two little girls. two and four. the little two year old came over to visit and just ji was eating a pizza.she just waltzed right up and took a piece, and then proceeded to get it all over her face.         'this is from mar. 18 entry taking off around seven from tri corner knob shelter. sun shining today. only thing that cheered us all up last nite was stiffie. he is from Pa Kettle