Date: 2009-04-24
From: Franklin, NC

To: Wayah Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Ron was kind enough to shuttle me back to the trail about 9:00 although no one else had shown up for the first scheduled shuttle. Along the way, he dropped off "Zack," "Transition" and AnneMarie (who needs a trail name) at the grocery store. They took the second shuttle back to the trail later, caught up and passed me by in early afternoon at a speed that tells me I'll never see them again. How these young kids can rocket up these mountains like they do is beyond my comprehension ... and ability.I started walking north about 9:40 in clear, calm weather with the temps in to 70s. The trail presented a series of mostly gradual ups today of roughly 400, 400, 500, 400, 900 and 300 feet (total of about 3,000 ft). Along the way, I decided to take photos of as many different kinds of emerging plants, flowers, ferns, etc. as I could see since spring is bursting forth everywhere. I have not the slightest idea of the name of any of the 50+ things I photographed, but will let Bon Bon sort it all out at a later date since this is the AT she had wanted to see but had missed due to the late spring.After a long stretch with no water sources, I came to a great spring and met NOBOs (i.e. Northbound thru-hikers) "Wildflower" and "7". Since then we have hop-scotched passed each along the trail several times.While stopped for a lunch snack at a state road crossing, I saw an RV parked nearby. Soon "SWC" emerged an introduced himself as a SOBO. His approach is a bit different than other hikers. He started hiking from Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania, and when he gets to Springer, the southern terminus, he will go back to where he started and then hike north to Maine. His wife is with him, ferrying their RV to road crossings so he can sleep comfortably each night, and, if possible, also meets him for lunch. Bottom line, SWC doesn't need to carry much more than a bottle of water and a snack as he hikes along. There are very few rules on the AT so everyone gets to hike their own hike out here.Late in the afternoon a girl named "Wren" passed me by just as we approach a lookout tower on the top of Wayah Bald. We traded cameras and took each others' pictures and then continued on to the shelter about .7 miles down the mountain. The shelter proved to be the nicest one I've seen so far, built in 2007 in a location with a great view, nice tent sites, and a good water source. Wren and I cooked dinner together. She recently got her Masters degree in a field related to birds and is really enjoying all the bird-related things out here ... things that I have never even noticed. About dinner time a family of six arrived and set up tents. I let Wren have the shelter to herself and tented nearby.Now is as good a time as any to discuss gnats! They bothered Bon Bon a bit while she was on the trail, but seemd to have no interest in me. Now there are a lot more of them, they bite my legs when I am not moving, and the bites itch a lot. They seem unbothered by Deet and the bites do not stop itching when treated with AfterBite or StingEze ... though I have gotten some relief by using 1% hydrocortizone. The only thing I have been able to do is cover up in the evening by putting on my shorts extensions, rubber banding them to my long socks, putting on my fleece jacket with the collar up and a fleece beanie. This leaves only my face and hands exposed and the gnats seem uninterested in biting those areas. After the sun goes down, they disappear and one can sleep in the open without any trouble.PhotosShuttling back to the ATSpring is coming!First snakeSOBO hiker SWC whose wife shuttles their RV to road crossings for him as he hikes alongWayah Bald towerWren