Date: 2006-03-20
From: BETTY CREEK

To: ROCKY GAP SHELTER
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: snow

MUDFLAP'S WEEKLY REVIEW #2Hey folks, it's times for Mudflap's Weekly Review #2! I know everyone's been sittin' on the edge of their seats for this one. Day 8 we camped at Tray Mtn. shelter. Caboose brought Daisy half a bottle of wine they brought up from Hiawassee. Well, Daisy put some in her cup but did not drink it all due to the cold and high winds. Problem is that good 'no trace' ethics means you just can't dump it out. So I had to bite the bullet and drink this dry nasty tasting stuff! I don't understand why anyone would drink wine.Day 9 was never-ending to Kelly Knob. We must have seen 3 false peaks. It just kept going up. We also met two hikers going back south to our starting point. Christmas and Chief were sharing all kinds of advice and stories of past hikes.Day 10 we went into Hiawassee to re supply. This was our first experience with hitch-hiking. The 5th vehicle came back and squeezed 3 packs and 3 dirty and smelly hikers in his small SUV. We stayed in a great hotel and experienced over-the-top hospitality. We had the first pizza out of a new pizzeria.Day 11 we went back to the trail with full bellies and clean clothes. We camped at Plum Orchard shelter with Possum, U-Haul and Eli.Day 12 we pushed on to Standing Indian Shelter. Daisy would have rather camped before the shelter but Mudflap loves the bear cables and privy.Day 13 we found a fellow hiker's hiking poles leaning against a tree. We hollered for U-Haul but there was no answer. We hurried down the trail to find him. We took a short break and we heard U-Haul and his group coming towards us. He told us he meant to leave them there. He took them and later they fell off his pack. We left them this time. They found their way back to him later by another hiker.Day 14 we started hiking in the cold and rainy weather. The leaves had icicles hanging from them, the temperature was dropping. Then we came to a sign that says TRAIL MAGIC so we headed that way. It was like an oasis in the desert. There was an RV with a huge tarp with a grill, fire and food. Gatorade and Fishin Fred were our trail angels. They had everything you could want. U-Haul, Possum and Eli (now known as beer:30) were leaving with full stomachs and warmed up bodies. Eli had a trail name now due to asking if he could have a beer at 8:30 in the morning. So his trail name has become beer:30. Fishin Fred made sure everyone got a hand made souvenir that he makes. They cooked up eggs for us while Daisy and I ate some bakery goods. We left with an orange and an apple. We headed to Albert Mtn., the big climb of the day. As we headed up, all the branches and leaves were covered with ice. Albert Mtn. was the first place we had to pull ourselves over rocks. At the top was a fire tower. We would have climbed up the stairs but the metal steps and handrails had a sheet of ice over them. We headed to Rock Gap Shelter to set up our tent for the night. We headed to a side trail to the world's second largest poplar tree. How anybody could pass by that, I don't know. Daisy was cold so she left her pack on her back. We were headed down the side trail and a big tree had fallen blocking the trail. We just stepped over it like any pro hiker would do. That wasn't as easy as it sounds. The tree had a forked trunk and when you stepped over the first trunk you slid down to the edge of the trail. The edge of the trail would have been an unpleasant tumble down to the next switchback. This sounds like the adventures of Mudflap & Daisy danger hikers! We escaped the whole mess and hiked down to the large tree. It was huge but it was dying. The tree was marked by people's initials! It amazes me how people just vandalize things that aren't theirs. Before dark, a hiker named Crutch came by the shelter and asked if anybody wanted to go into town. We stayed. We planned to go into town 4 miles down the trail. There are 3 other hikers here: Dodger, Max and Nathan. Max and Nathan are father and son. Well, that's my exciting journal for the week.