Date: 2011-04-30
From: Greasy Creek Gap

To: Carver's Gap
Miles today: 10.7

Day 40 - I slept well and don't really think it got down to 30*F during the night as I was warm most of the night. When I was home on Thursday I realized that if I did 26.6 miles on Friday and Saturday and if I could get a ride from Carver's Gap (Roan Mt) I could come back home for Saturday evening. I drastically need some time to do some planning. Bill Wight graciously volunteered to meet me at Carver's Gap at 5:00pm and transport me home. Since I had done 15.9 miles on Friday, I only had to do 10.7 miles today but I also had to climb up "The Roan.¢ Amanda, Jesse and Buckeye broke camp and I followed at 8:05am. I had not really packed enough food when I left home on Friday morning. I had some peanut butter, raisins and some dry fruit for the day but I was chastising myself for not bringing more food to keep my strength up because the big climb from Hughes Gap to Roan Mt (2,245 feet) was going to be late in the day and it was going to be warm. I had even left my eating utensils home, I had to rehydrate my eggs/sausage and drink/squeeze it from the plastic bag for breakfast. The hike from Greasy Creek Gap (and no, I do not know or care to know how this creek got its name), to Hughes Gap was uneventful. I had plenty of time and took pictures. There were several hikers/walkers that were south bound with only a day pack on, moving at a fairly quick pace. It would only be later that I understood who they were. At 10:50am, as I descended into Hughes Gap at TN 1330, it looked as if a feast was set up and to a hiker it was. Two couples, Kay and Jim Myers from Knoxville and Pam and David Lane from Erwin had set up a trail magic feast that was fabulous. They had a Coleman gas grill set up cooking hotdogs, 2 tables full of snacks, fruit and a cooler full of drinks. Jim had thru hiked in 2009, after retiring from Knoxville's Power Board, and this is just something they enjoy doing. It was greatly appreciated by all of us. So I helped myself to 2 hot dogs, an oatmeal pie, a doughnut, an apple, a pack of peanut crackers, a small bag of chips and 2 drinks. And to think, I was worried about lunch and keeping my strength up. My only regret that I had after I was 15 minutes back on the trail that I had neglected to take pictures of this gathering. Also gathered at this gap were individuals with just their day packs on. I asked them what was going on and they explained that they were from Charlotte and they were participating in a fund raising event for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. There were 60-70 of them walking/running/hiking 30 miles. They had been let out at US 19E in Roan Mountain (the city) at 4:00am that morning and had proceeded up TN 143, got onto the AT and hiked over Roan Mountain. They had raised $362,000 for this cause and expect to have $400,000 by the time all the money was in. As I proceed up toward the mountain, I passed groups of them for 2 hours. On Sunday, I went on-line and donated to their cause because I really admire them for doing this. If you have ever ridden up TN 143 to Roan Mountain from US 19E you know how strenuous that must have been. I asked them if they knew my daughter who lives in Charlotte but no one did.The climb up "The Roan' was much easier than I was mentally envisioning, maybe it was the hot dogs. I climbed out onto TN 143 at 2:50pm, having covered the 10.7 miles at a 1.8 mph pace. During the last mile I walked with a hiker name Bismark and as we walked off the trail he noticed 2 coolers next to a SUV. He commented to me that he wondered if that was trail magic. As we walked up to the vehicle I noticed it had Sullivan County tags and the coolers had "Ponder" on them. Bismark opened the first cooler and it was packed full of drinks, cookies, candy and bananas. We both helped ourselves and commented that this was indeed our lucky day to have 2 trail magic stops. It was only after I closed the cooler that I saw the masking tape that said, " Trail Magic - Enjoy - Friends of denob.¢ I was so touched by Kristi, Tony and their kids¢ kindness, it was really neat. I explained to Bismark who the Ponders were and he was too was very grateful. I sat there for a while hoping that they would return so I could see them but they must have gone up to the balds. Other hikers, including Amanda, Jesse and Buckeye, enjoyed the treats while I was there. Kristi/Tony - thanks again for doing this and I am sorry I left before you returned. Bill arrived at 5:05pm and picked me and my gear up. I had changed shirts to save him the smelly hour drive back home. Again, Bill, I appreciate you taking two hours from your Saturday afternoon to come pick me up. We had a good chat on the way back as Bill would like to do the AT someday as well. I am now at 374.8 miles total and will use Sunday as a day off to plan out my next 2 months or so. I have made arrangement with Terry Hackler and David Pittman to hike together on Monday so I continue to have a lot to look forward to.