Date: 2013-04-16
From: Franklin, NC

To: Wayah Gap
Miles today: 9.0

Guess where I am tonight? Back at the Sapphire Inn in Franklin! Nightingale talked me into slackpacking today, and staying another night. I really didn't want to spend the money for another night in town, and I was actually looking forward to getting back to the forest, but then again, she really didn't have to twist my arm, either. I met Ron Haven today, he is well-known to the trail community. He owns three motels, one in Hiawasee and two in Franklin, including the one I am staying in, and he drives shuttles all over the place, taking hikers here and there. He does a lot more than that, also, and every hiker who has ever been through here has a Ron Haven story to tell, it seems like. He is a heck of a nice guy, and I am happy to have finally met him. His lovely wife Marcella drove out to Wayah Gap to pick Nightingale and myself up this afternoon, and brought us back to the motel, even drove through the fast food drive up to get us some dinner so we didn't have to walk. We walked nine miles today in a record time, for us. Not carrying all your pack on your back makes a huge difference. It was really very warm and sunny today, almost hot. Hard to believe I was shivering while trying to sleep just a few nights ago! I took the zip-off bottom parts of my hiking pants legs off today, for the first time. Aah, the air felt so good on my legs! Of course I had big old knee braces on, and hiking boots and socks, so if do get a tan on my blindingly white legs, it will be an odd one. Above and below my knees broke out from heat, so I may need to find smaller knee braces to wear in the warm weather. There are little IT bands that go just below the knee. Nightingale let me borrow hers today and it doesn't seem that that leg hurts any more than the leg with the big brace, so I may go with the lightweight bands. Sigh, always something else to buy. The hike was great today, though. First a little up and down to Winding Stair Gap that didn't affect us at all, we breezed through it. Then a long, nearly five mile ascent to the top of Siler Bald. It wasn't so steep though, North Carolina is much more generous with using switchbacks than Georgia was, so the climbs may be longer, but they are usually not as steep. There were two mysteries at the top of Siler Bald. First is the bald itself. I don't think anyone has ever come up with a definitive explanation for these "balds"--mountains in the southern Appalachians with not trees on the tops. It is not above treeline, they are just topped by a grassy field instead of by the forest that reaches all the way to the summit. Siler Bald is the first bald I have climbed. It was lovely on the top, when you emerge from the forest onto a big grassy field. We wanted to lie down on the grass. I took pictures, and will post them, but I'm not sure if they can accurately convey the feeling. The second mystery is the crying tree. Right at the edge of the bald was a tree that was dripping water from out of one branch high above our heads onto the ground, resulting in a twelve-by-twelve inch wet patch of ground. We looked and looked, but could not find a reason for the dripping water on an otherwise dry, warm, sunny day. Nightingale gave the tree a good hug, and I told it things will be fine, everything will be all right. Maybe it was crying for the souls lost in Boston. Even hiking the AT, bad news can find you, especially if you are staying in a motel. Sometimes walking through the quiet forest I hear what sounds like distant drums. Nightingale hears them too, although no one else seems to. I like to think that maybe they are the echoes of the lost Cherokee that used to rule this area. Oh, I forgot to tell you about an experience that I had several days ago. I was walking along the side of the mountain, and Nightingale was so far ahead of me that she was no where in sight. I couldn't see anyone else either, it was as if I was the only person in the world. The mountain rose up on my right side, and dropped off on my left, down into the valley far below. Across from the valley was--more trees, more mountains, more silence, no people. Suddenly I heard a large POP! that sounded like a gunshot. It seemed to come from ahead of me, and down in the valley a bit. It startled me, and I knew there was no road crossing anywhere near. I thought about Nightingale walking somewhere ahead of me. I wondered if I should go on, or go back, or stop and wait to see if anything else happened. Then there was a second POP!, and a third. Then silence. I kept walking, keeping my eyes and ears open, scanning the woods for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing happened for a while. Then a huge noise, not like the pop of a gunshot, more like the bang if someone hit a car with a sledgehammer. Then again. Then a sound like a machine gun--Bang-bang-bang-bang, real quick. Then, finally the big CRA-ACK of wood splitting, and a humongous tree down in the valley started to fall. I got to watch it go over, and it was a remarkable thing to watch. You see the things that fill your time and your imagination, when you don't have them filled with the minutaie of the world?It feels good to be clean, I must admit, but I do miss the woods and the hiker community, and look forward to getting back out there tomorrow. Oh and the best news? Mike is going to come hike at least part of the Smokies with me!!!