Date: 2011-04-18
From: Jasper, GA

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 3(ish) - but really DAY 1!!!It is 9am and we are waiting for our ride to the trail head. I am sitting on the porch rocking in a rocker in my tank top, since it is already 64 degrees!!! I slept pretty well considering the noise and that it was my first time ever sleeping open air. No bugs. It was nice. We got up about 5:30 and walked to Bojangles for breakfast where I had an authentic southern fast food breakfast of eggs, ham, biscuits, and grits. Dave can't sit still. He really needs to learn how to stop and relax. Up until last year I couldn't either, so I understand. Oh, so today is day 1 of no shower. I decided I will journal how this "hiker funk" progresses. I know I won't be able to smell myself, but we will see. I have my hair "french" (kinda) braided to keep it from getting knotted. This too will be a progression, to see how adept I can get at my braiding abilities. I brought some coconut cream stuff to put on my feet. I was going to do it every night, but realized I might not want to go to bed with yummy smelling feet, so I will do it every morning. It kinda has a good viscous quality anyway, so that can help with blister prevention.The ride up the mountain was amazing. When they say the road winds up the side of the mountain, they are not kidding. I sat in the back seat and the majority of the time I could not see the road at all.Adam (from the airport) gave us a ride. He had no idea where he was going, but the directions in the companion got us there. We were dropped a the trail crossing that was only 0.9 miles from the summit and headed up.The first person I came across was an older gentleman wearing a Red Sox ball cap. He and his wife "Stardust" (a hot shit of 60 years old!) are from Newton, MA. When we go to the summit there was a very grey, very bearded man. Roger aka "The Old Grey One." Then a family came up the path. They were from Dorchester, MA. How is it that I am almost on the opposite end of the country and am surrounded by neighbors! We signed the register that is kept in a metal slot in the rock that the plaque is on and had a little lunch. For me it was my left over blueberry biscuit from breakfast and some GORP. The summit got pretty crowded at one point. I'd say there were about 15 people up there. A group of 3 guys ("The Chef", "Megaman", and "Gilbert") were from Texas and were in awe of the view.Dave and I worked out where we were going to meet up since he as a much longer stride than I. On the way up, another couple had informed me when I was almost at the summit. I thanked them and said, "Great! Then I can start!" Now as I turned to the leave the plaque...I began. I got a little misty eyed realizing that I was finally really here and really starting out!The hike was awesome. The landscape changing from bare deciduous forest to lush rhododendron encased paths. The dogwoods are in bloom and the paths are lined with Johnny Jump-ups that seemed to cheer me on as I went. There were butterflies and honey bees that seemed to be escorting me. One butterfly would fly up the path a few feet and wait for me, then go on ahead again. It seemed between the butterflies and the honey bees. I almost always had an escort of this fashion. At about the 4 mile mark there was a great clearing by a river with a bridge. This was a trail head at Rte 58. I saw Roger siting on a large log tending to his feet (something that I too need to do by this point) and as I asked how far ahead Dave was, I noticed he was on the other end of the log. I hadn't realized it was the road until then. We all took a nice break and had some food, water, and foot tending. I had some hot spots, but no blisters. So I covered the hotspots with moleskin and change into dry socks.A couple drove up to the trail head with a great dog named Cocoa. Actually, it was Cocoa Mocha Java She was a cross between a Golden and maybe a Beagle!I lost Dave, but as I stopped to catch my breath, the couple and Cocoa came as long as did Annie. She is from NC and going at least as far as Damascus but (depending on work) may go all the way.Cocoa kept trying to chase things none of us saw, then she scared up a HUGE black snake! It was awesome, but very tolerant of the intrusion by all of us. It stayed on the side of the trail, not quite ready to strike, mostly seemingly at ease as we passed, giving it a wide berth. It continued on its way as we went by it, and both Annie and I had to resist the urge to want to pet it. It was gorgeous.The trail was pretty much just UP for quite some time and Annie went on ahead. I started keeping track of distance with my "100 bottles of beer on the wall" and came across Dave and Roger at a stream about 1/2 mile (by my bottle count) from the shelter. We decided to fill the camp water jug and went on to the shelter. Yup my bottles were pretty accurate. We were less than 1/2 mile from the shelter site, which looked like a tent city! There must be at least 20 tents set up here! We ended up finding a place off to one side away from the others, set up camp and joined everyone to make dinner. It's a very lively group. There are a couple of girls that I would put in their teens, all the way up to good old Roger who seems to me to be in his 70's. There seems to be a large canadian population among us (well 3 at least). There was a lot of rope tying lessons going back and forth (I showed my skill at the noose) of course everyone talked about water purification types and stoves, along with types of bear bags. One lady (from Saskatchewan(sp?)) has a kevlar bear bag. Pretty cool. My alcohol stove worked perfectly! Dave had bought some dinners for 2 and we had chicken something with rice.After dinner there was much talk of who is heading where tomorrow and out came the maps and guide books. I sat and talked to Salmon, a single mother from Maine who seems to have a similar story to mine. While the guys talked maps, she and I talked and she showed me how she braided her hair. See! I knew it would be entertainment! By the way, yes I stink. At one point in the trail I reached up over y head to get the book out of my bag and OMG! I instead ended up going to the fanny pack for a wipe to give myself a quick wipe down! I believe Dr. Bonner and I will have a date at the stream in the morning!The weather is amazing! I hiked in mid to high 70's with no humidity. Didn't bother with the fly on the tent it is such a mild night. It must be in the 50's. It's so quiet, my pencil on the paper seems so very loud!We have to do about 12 miles tomorrow in order to get to Neels Gap on Wednesday. My nose is stuffy and my nose drops are in my bear bag Ok, that's enough. Oh wait, the privy doesn't have a door!