Date: 2013-04-10
From: Damascus, con't.

To: Lost Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

Warren arrived back home around noon today. I was packed and ready to get back on the trail. Warren and I went to Subway, on the edge of town, where I had already walked to, and had lunch together. I had a foot long Black Forest Ham. I ate half there and took half for the trail. Don't know where my appetite went. I am afraid to get on the scale. But, my belt does not lie. It has grown considerably since 2/28/13. Warren and I bid each other farewell and I walked about a quarter mile down the road and was on the trail again. The climb out was fairly long and a bit more strenuous than I remembered from my ATI day hike last September. Twenty minutes into my hike, I was perspiring. No, check that, I was SWEATING!! Oh well, at least it wasn't snowing. It was indeed a beautiful spring day. After a few miles, I settled down and hit my stride.I was determined to achieve my goal of Lost Mountain Shelter. With a start time of nearly 1:00 pm, and nearly 16 miles to go, I knew I could make it before dark. How wrong I was. My hike was going smoothly until I hit the intersection of the AT and Winter Creeper Trail. It was already dusky dark. I hesitated for a moment, checked for the AT white blaze and made my choice. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. I walked nearly two miles on the wrong trail. And...it was now coal mine dark. Since I was hiking alone this day, I did not have the advantage of a second opinion. It is not unusual on the AT, in some parts, not to see a white blaze for a half mile or so, especially where the trail is obvious. Well, the trail was very obvious. It was just the wrong trail. The Winter Creeper is a pretty wimpy trail in reality. It's on ground previously occupied by railroad tracks, and about as flat as any road in Myrtle Beach. The trail weaves back and forth across a large stream with a series of bridges. Not a trail for serious hikers, more for children, bird watchers, senior citizens (not me) and such. Well, after nearly two miles in the wrong direction, and no white blazes, I decided it was time to turn back in the other direction...so, I did. A half mile later is when it happened. After 23 falls and no injuries except a few scratches, minor bruises and a little wounded pride, I finally had a nasty one...walking on a FLAT road, I fell...Fall number 24. It was totally dark on a moonless night. I was wearing my head lamp but, apparently, that was not enough. When I went down, my head hit first. Before I got up, I waited a moment to see if I had any concussion symptoms. Fortunately, I did not. I got up and, with the aid of my headlamp, all I could see was BLOOD! All I could do was wipe it off my head with my shirt sleeves. Blood was all over my shirt, my pack and some on my pants. Yes, I was scared because I was by myself, there was lots of blood and it was totally dark. What else could I do but...deal with it. Took my trusty bandana from around my neck and started wiping blood off of me. Then, I dug through my pack, found my antibiotic ointment and smeared it across my wound and wrapped my bandana around my head. The bleeding ceased. Next objective, find Lost Mountain Shelter. Well, after hiking another three+ miles, I did find it. Lots of hikers were there, probably a dozen. Everyone there was either asleep or non responsive except Earth Fare, a young lady from Raleigh, and her beautiful dog, Nylla. We chatted for a while and I crawled in my bag beside her and Nylla in the shelter. Hey, get your mind out of the gutter, I could've been Earth Fare's grandfather. Anyway, I was sooo glad to say goodbye to this miserable day.Ciao for now,Sandman69