Date: 2005-09-02
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Ashby Gap
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a beautiful (but VERY hot!) day of hiking with many blessings. I was very anxious about the reports of a huge blowdown on the trail just south of the hostel that I would have to go around. For my non-hiker friends, this is huge trees that had blown down during a big storm Tuesday night covering the trail for about a quarter of a mile. I also knew that today would be very challenging trail. The section of trail from Blackburn Trail Center, where I stayed 2 nights ago, to the Rod Hollow shelter is about 30 miles. During this section, there are 13 ascents & descents and the terrain is very rocky. Years ago, if you hiked this area, you had a 14 mile roadwalk. When the trail was able to be relocated, there was not a lot of space available for the project, so the builders had no choice but to have it go up & over all these ridges & mountains. It is known as the Roller Coaster. Even so, it's much better than a roadwalk. This morning I asked one of the volunteers here at Bears Den if they would consider "slackpacking" me today. The volunteer, Robert, loaned me his daypack and the caretaker, David, drove me to Ashby Gap. When I got out of the van, I realized that I had forgotten my hiking poles. Without skipping a beat, David said I have a set in the car that you can use. He then presented me with a set of wooden poles with leather handles that he has owned since 1942! I was honored that he entrusted me with such special poles. I have read here on Trail Journals of a number of people who have managed to break their metal Leki poles. Leki always replaces the poles, but all I could think of all day is that these poles could never be replaced. When I entered this section today, there was a sign on a tree that said:Warning hikers!You are entering the roller coaster!This trail is maintained by Trail Boss and his merry crew!See you at Blackburn Trail Center if you survive!!I had already completed the 4 climbs north of Bears Den, so I only had 9 more to go! I tried to keep count, but lost track by the 2nd or 3rd climb. I was able to hike back to this wonderful hostel without carrying a heavy pack. This allowed me to complete a very a very difficult section of trail and certainly make more miles than I would have been able to do with a pack. When I reached the hostel, Larry said to get cleaned up & join them for dinner. I had a wonderful dinner, including chocolate pie for dessert!Last night my Olympus Stylus digital camera broke & I needed to send it home so Bob can get it fixed. David took it to a P.O. today while I was hiking, got it packaged, & in the mail. The only other thing I needed was a camera. All of this for $13 per night! As I was waiting for them to process my credit card for another night's stay, I look in their little glass case of things for sale & there is a disposable camera for $8> I forgot to mention the biggest miracle of the day...When I was about a mile and a half from the hostel, I heard a chainsaw off in the distance. I wondered if trail maintainers could possibly be clearing the trail. When I reached the blowdown area, the smell of fresh sawdust was in the air, and I was able to just walk right on by! Amazing!So, here I am back at Bears Den for a 2nd night. There are several other residents sharing the bunkroom with me tonight, but everyone is pleasant. Tomorrow, I really am going to have to suck it up & be at a shelter or campsite.