Date: 2013-04-21
From: Deep Gap, Little Paint Creek Stealth Camp

To: Stealth Camp in meadow below Big Butt Mountain
Miles today: 15.8

Today has been super dooper! I slept really, really well. As expected the sound of the creek lulled me to sleep. It was a cold night, probably below freezing, but I slept snug as a bug. I woke up at 6:30, but luxuriously I allowed myself to snooze until 7. Even then I was barely ready to get up. I leisurely disassembled my tent and hung the rain fly up to dry. But the morning sun had not yet risen about the hills, so the moisture from my breath was going nowhere. I made breakfast and cleaned my dishes. Then I hefted my pack on my back and began the climb out of my secret ravine. It was 8:30.As I was climbing out, and I'm still not sure how it happened, I was pushing through a green briar-ish type of thicket. one of the little bushes swung back and popped me square in the nipple (it's really cold out here, mind you, so everything is extra sensative). It felt like someone had caught me with the end of a bull whip. I jumped and yelped. Had I been stung by a hornet? I checked, but nothing was there. Mother Nature just took a cheap shot. I rubbed my chest and grumbled the rest of the way up to the trail.My spirits were high and my body felt great and rested. I moved at the speed that I wanted to, feeling no pressure to be anywhere or clock mileage. It's such a relief. Also, it's much quieter on the trail. I'm sure the 'rabbits' that hung back in Hot Springs will catch up soon enough, but for now the trail traffic is light. As I was crossing TN 70, I saw a really nice road bike tucked away in the bushes, a helmet and shoes carefully laying by the front wheel. As I got closer, I noticed a note attached to the frame that read "Please don't take this bike. It is my only ride home. Thanks!". I climbed down to it and put a banana on the seat and wrote a little note alongside theirs. A little reverse trail magic.A little further down the trail, the AT skirted a dirt road. Uphill on the other side I noticed a cemetery with a green tent set up, the universal sign for an impending funeral. I walked up to get a closer look. The hole was dug, and orange clay hole. There was a tombstone already in place with a birth date and name. She was to be laid to rest next to her husband who had proceeded her. While I was eating and shopping my way through Hot Springs, her family's life was changing forever. I had no idea. It's funny how that works. I wandered around the cemetery. Some of the graves had modern tombstone and dozens of bright silk flowers adorning them. Others markedly older, nothing more than a jagged rough slated stone erected upright. If I were in the British Isles or in the Brittany region of France I would have thought they were left by an ancient Celtic clan. Instead it was a simple grave marker marking a simpler time. I stopped at the Little Laurel Shelter for lunch. I chatted with Vegabond, Ace, Tags and Jetlag. There was a bottle of clorox hanging from the rafters and a ziplock baggy full of hand sanitizer. Norovirus was here. There was a helluva climb out of the shelter. The trail creators must have met their switchback quota and took the trails straight up and over. I had planned to check out the lookout tower at the top, but there was a note saying that you couldn't go up in it, so I kept moving forward. I met a few thru-hikers that were slack packing in the other direction. I went out to Whiterock cliffs to check out the view and take a few photos. from this point on the trail took on a jungley feel. If I didn't know better I would say that it was designed by the set coordinators of Indiana Jones and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. There were big grey boulders to climb up and over. Giant creeping roots and vines seemed to hold everything in place. The rhododendrons were thick and dense and reminded me of the mangroves of Daintree rainforest of northeastern Australia. I was hard to believe that I was inland in the mountains and not on the coast somewhere. The toughest section was getting up and over Big Firescald Knob. It was nothing short of a rock scramble with a heavy-ass pack on. I had to give myself a pep-talk through a couple of the sections. It got a little hairy. But today's section has been my favorite to date!The trail smoothed out coming into Jerry's Cabin Shelter. I was tempted to stop, but instead filled my water and had an early dinner and walked on. The walk along Bald Ridge made me realize that I had made the right decision. It was coming into the 'magic hour' where the lighting makes everything look like a master-piece. I passed through a golden and burgundy colored filled and came into a curious forest. The trail narrowed and there were old moss-covered fallen trees and high-reaching vertical rock outcrops. If Robin Hood's men had jump out from behind one of them and demanded my money I wouldn't have been the least surprised. I passed a memorial stone of someone who had hiked the trail in '68 and when they passed away 20 yrs later they had their ashes scattered here. I can understand why. I hiked the side trail up to Big Butt Mtn summit (seriously, how could you pass up that opportunity?), but I guess I had seen so many spectacular things today that this butt didn't impress me to much. I came back down and decided to start looking for a place to camp. a half mile down the trail I found a peaceful meadow and set up my tent. The sky is clear, and there is zero chance of rain so I'm going to risk leaving the rain-fly off. I like the idea of watching the moon and stars.