Date: 2007-04-15
From: Walnut Mt. Shelter

To: Spring Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 11.0

April 15th, a day I¢ll never forget.Today was the day I got back on the trail after 3 ¢0¢ days (0 day means no miles hiked) and some well deserved time spent with Cheryl. It was great to see her and incredibly hard to leave her on the opposite side of the bridge that spans the French Broad River and leads into the small town of Hot Springs, NC. As I turned multiple times to wave goodbye, there she stood ¢ tears in eyes, committed to me and the 5-month journey, until finally the trail took a sharp turn and a steep incline almost vertical, and she was out of site, but not out of mind. As I made my way up in a sort of pleasant mist looking down on the French Broad River, I recollected on my most enjoyable days in town and the lavish comfort I experienced.The trail steepened (nothing new by now) and the rain picked up and soon the wind was blowing it sideways on the exposed ¢Lovers¢ Leap Rock and Pump Gap (2180 ft.). Not a problem since I had my rain gear and pack cover on. But then snow! Just as predicted, but I was prepared! It was nice dry snow and I loved the contrast as I took pictures of these beautiful purple flowers with snow on them. It picked up snowing and soon it collected on the ground! The locals said it was very unusual, snow this late in the season, but again, I was prepared! As me and my loyal hiking partner cruised on, we came to a man-made Dam. Although at the time I did not know it was a dam. Bono (always needing to be in front) was walking across this 40 ft. wall and I was thinking it was a road crossing. As I crested the hill my heart nearly jumped out of my chest!!! One slip either way and he was a gonner! The 40 ft. fall to rocks below wouldn¢t have felt too good I imagine and a drop in the pond with full food and water in his pack would have brought him down like a lead weight! So I called him casually back to me and as he turned on the narrow ledge, his paw slipped! Once I got him back to land safely, I scolded him thoroughly. As we made it to the road crossing, the wind picked up and started pelting the snow into my face ¢ stinging my eyes and face ¢ where was the trail? It¢s hard to see! As the temp dropped, I started to chill from the rain dripping off the rain cover down my back ¢ I decided to change and try my new tarp/poncho Cheryl bought me. I got out of the wet clothes and proceeded to attempt ¢ (notice the word attempt) to get the pouch on which is designed to cover me and my pack. This 40 min. ordeal would have been very amusing if someone was watching, but I was not impressed and by the distance Bono (to avoid further confusion, I will from this point on call Scuff/Bono) was from me down the trail ¢ I think he wasn¢t impressed with the symphony of choice words coming out of my mouth. At this point in my journal entry I guess it¢s a good time to tell you why I will never forget April 15th. First, it¢s my other dog Bodi¢s B-day. He¢s a good boy and Bono¢s ¢Big Brotha.¢ Secondly, it was a serious day in which I got very nervous ¢ o.k., down right scared! Everything that could have gone wrong did! The first issue I had was I put all my warm clothes on and began to sweat under my tarp/poncho. I remembered the show ¢Survivor Man¢ where Les Strowe would always say, ¢You sweat, you die.¢ So I tried to take my time to avoid over heating. The next problem I had was the wind was blowing the snow and pelting me and the trees as it stuck and hid the white blazes ¢ no matter, I couldn¢t look up long enough to see them without getting blinded! The 60-70 mph gust ripped open my tarp exposing my sweat ridden coat and pack. I tried to fix it and forgot to take my gloves off soaking them in the process. Not good, now my hands were freezing and I could not utilize my poles to help push me up through the 12¢ snow drifts!I kept my corner eye looking to the left for any blow downs coming my way and later learned a guy died when a tree crushed him in his car. When I finally made it to the shelter, I could not believe my eyes! Four tents and the shelter was full! This I had not anticipated and I was hoping to use the shelter to try and dry some clothes. I ended up having to pitch my tent, which was totally soaked and black mud everywhere! Earlier in the day I opted to leave my zero degree sleeping bag with Cheryl in order to save a few pounds. This alone could have cost me my life! My original plan was to wear all my clothes I was carrying under this quilt that was lightweight and did not cover my feet. Well all the clothes were wet so I ended up putting all the trash bags I use to carry all my gear and pulling my dog as close to me as possible. He had it rough too, as he shivered through the night. He was wet, but he was warm ¢ kind of like ¢moist heat.¢ As I lay there shivering, I thought to myself how angry and disappointed I was with my negligent decision ¢ I started to weep quietly so no one in the shelter would hear. This I¢m not ashamed to admit. One decision I was glad I made was to listen to my girlfriend (and Brian) and take a cell phone. This alone got me through the longest night of my life. As Cheryl and I formulated a plan from our identical trail companions, hope to get back to town and dry out ¢ was planned. At the first sign of useable light (5:30 a.m.) I would hike down to Allen Gap ¢ 4 miles to the Road crossing and Cheryl would pick me up. Thank god for my witty ¢trail angel.¢ She punched in the coordinates on the GPS that my mom bought us and we met at exactly the time we agreed on. The whole time hiking to the road I thought to myself how much contrast a day makes. One minute I¢m in a tub with water so hot you have to ease yourself into it, the next thing I know I¢m soaking wet, freezing and spooning my wet dog! Go figure? Part of the challenge is I guess.Once to town, we went for breakfast since I had not eaten since breakfast the day prior. The restaurant had a space heater cranking so I sat on the floor in front of it. Cheryl said steam was coming off my back as I tried to shake off the chill. Two hours later I was back in a hot shower and warm bed to try and get some well needed sleep. I was out in 5 minutes! If there was ever a time since I started this journey that I wanted to quit, this event was it! But I¢m not dead, so I will keep on going with my commitment to walk 2,175 miles home to Maine.