Date: 2007-03-09
From: Dicks Gap 

To: Plumorchard Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: broken clouds

The day after a zero your legs feel fresh and it¢s much easier to haul up a hill. Today was just that kind of day. Paw Paw and I pulled in to Plumorchard Gap Shelter at about 1:30 pm. Since it was our destination for the day, we napped and ate all afternoon. The shelter is gorgeous, a solid structure with 2 lofts and massive beams. Only Paw Paw and I were there.The photo above was taken in April by Lipstick to show the shelter. We are waiting for more pictures to follow. Dinner was routine, but something happened as Paw Paw prepared for bed that dramatically changed our evening. After a trip to the privy, I rounded the corner into the shelter and saw pools of blood on the floor. Paw Paw was clutching his head and said that he had hit it on a beam. Between us, we managed to stop the bleeding. I could see he had a 4 inch gash on the top of his head. I had trouble convincing Paw Paw that we were going to change our plans and hike back to Cloud 9 in the morning. He begged me to hike with him the 4 days on to Franklin.I called down to Cloud 9 on my cell and arranged to return. We would be helped out with our gear by a couple of the well conditioned young men staying there. At least we weren¢t too far off the road (4.5 miles).I got Paw Paw into his sleeping bag and soon went to bed myself. As I lay there, I began to worry. Mice ran up and down, a chorus of owls called to each other. Half asleep, I heard the sound of what I thought was the rotor blades of a helicopter, not an inordinately unusual sound in north Georgia wilderness because Rangers train here.It began to occur to me as I lay there that we actually might be the focus of the racket. I hopped out of bed, threw on some pants and when I looked out in the gloom, could make out a cluster of headlights and loud voices. Cloud 9 had called Search and Rescue. They had special permission to use ATV¢s in the wilderness. I was thoroughly relieved to see them.But that was only the beginning of the night¢s adventure. The Search and Rescue folks were clearly enjoying themselves, and Paw Paw was in no obvious danger, since he was busy telling jokes while they treated him. They also were evidently excited about a new piece of equipment they had, which they promptly ordered up. It was the same kind of John Deere ATV used in football games to haul injured football players off the field. It¢s called a GATOR.When it was within a reasonable distance, Paw Paw was loaded into an ATV and I hiked, cross-country in the middle of the night, to meet it. Our packs were strapped onto the backboard. Paw Paw thoroughly enjoying the whole event by now, was put in the back, and I rode shotgun behind a prototypical Georgia ¢Bubba¢ who called me ¢Sweetheart¢ and kept urging me to hold on tight around his waist, an impossible task, since my arm span was not remotely equal to his girth.We set off in a caravan of ATV¢s down an old road which had been deliberately destroyed to make it impassable to vehicles. It looked like the race course on the X-Games. We rode over and under and through every conceivable obstacle : logs, dikes, earthen barriers, mud holes, rivers, and dense rhododendrons. It took 45 minutes to get 2 miles down the mountain to a hard top road.At the bottom, an ambulance was waiting, along with perhaps 15 Search and Rescue folks. I kept trying to thank people for being so helpful and professional. All they could do, it seems, was to tell me what a good time they were having and to thank us in return for making their day.To make a long story short, Paw Paw is completely okay, despite a whole bunch of staples in his head. Special thanks to Wonder at Cloud 9 for being so supportive. She is much appreciated!"One day at a time--this is enough. Do not look back and grieve over the past for it is gone; and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful it will be worth remembering." ¢Anonymous