Date: 2004-03-25
From: Blueberry Patch Hostel

To: Little Bald Knob Campsite
Miles today: 1.0
Weather: scattered clouds

5:25 PM Campsite at Little Bald KnobI have taken it easy today. I was up before 6:00 PM, as usual, this time because of other people¢s sleep noises. I think I wake everybody else up with my rummaging around, but nobody complained. The hospitality at the Blueberry Patch is astonishing. Gary and Lennie obviously enjoy taking care of hikers. Breakfast of pancakes with whole blueberry syrup and sausages and cheese biscuits were as plentiful as any hiker could wish.Peter, Marty, and Nancy are staying over tonight for more R&R. Joanne and Casey hiked out this morning. I went into town with Peter, Marty, and Nancy to get groceries. We caught a ride with the Holiday Inn driver (owner?) and a ride back with the Hiawassee Inn owner. Neither drivers would accept any payment. They were going that way in any case.I finally got myself together after a lunch of canned salmon, Gary¢s homemade okra pickles, and applesauce. I weighed myself on the bathroom scale and weighed 128 pounds (15 pounds more that I weighed when I started working out and 5 pounds more than when I left home). Some of the weight was surely the huge supper of chicken and noodles, green beans, corn biscuits and pineapple upside down cake at the Macedonia Baptist Church. Then the fact that I didn¢t weigh myself until after 3 huge meals surely contributed to the current measurement.Unfortunately, I probably have some extra weight as fluid where it shouldn¢t be. My knees are swollen, but it would be an exaggeration to say much weight is accounted for in that way. I asked for the use of the scales to check my pack weight, but I was curious about my own weight too. The full pack weighed 44 pounds.I have supper planned; kale, carrots, cous cous with an orange for desert, but I am still so full from lunch, I¢m not interested in cooking. I had better do it anyway. The sun will be down soon and it will be chilly. The air temperature was about 68 degrees when I set up camp, but the temperature is dropping fast, and there is a breeze coming up. This campsite is just what I needed. I¢m sitting on a little ridge with the setting sun on one side and the Nantahala Mountains on the other. Every now and then a bird calls in the distance. I could hardly ask for more at this moment. I take that back. I could ask for a more convenient water supply. The hill down to the spring is steep!! But there are wild strawberry plants growing all over the hillside. No blooms or berries yet, but this would be a great place to come looking for berries later. When I started up the trail from Dick¢s Creek Gap, I was greeted with a glorious display of yellow and purple violets. Just before the campsite, there was a spot on the trail with about 40 of those beautiful white flowers that we saw on the trail up from Gooch Gap. I can hardly believe how quiet it is here right now. I have seen only 5 northbound hikers between 2:00 PM and this moment. I may have this secluded hillside all to myself tonight.I am hanging the bear bag far enough away so that any creatures sniffling around shouldn¢t make a lot of noise near the tent. We will see. Speaking of bear bags, I have finally gotten the hang of it (yuk yuk!). That night on Wildcat Mountain, I took 45 minutes and many tries to get it up high enough and split open the skin of both thumbs. I let Jeff hang it the next night. Marty helped me the next night, but I fell into a blackberry bramble and got a thorn in my butt. Thank God I was wearing jeans. This time I was able to figure out how to use my body as leverage and using the friction techniques I used in rappelling, I can do it myself without getting hurt now.7:45 PM Dinner was delicious. I was joined at sunset by Pooner from Maryland, who is hurrying to Fontana Dam for his next food drop. I was able to comfort him with baby carrots and part of an orange. I ate every bit of my vegetable soup. Obviously I was hungry enough.It is now dark and 53 degrees outside. Time for bed. I sang a little Taize music "Wait for the Lord, whose day is near. Wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart." I am remembering the preacher last night talking about the message in the revelation to the church in Ephesus ¢ "Return to your first love." He said that all your good works are in vain unless you do them for the love of the Lord. I take his words as more confirmation that I needed to quit what I was doing. I have no doubt that this walk is my way of returning to my first love. I¢m waiting for the life and joy to come into me so that I can do good works. Perhaps I needed to be the trail angel for Pooner tonight. He really seemed glad for the food I gave him, even though he insisted he needed to eat his trail mix to get rid of the weight. It is interesting to see how we can plan to do this hike and then it doesn¢t go nearly the way we expected. My back is getting stiff sitting in the tent with no support. I said it before. Now I really mean it. It is time for bed.