Date: 2003-04-19
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rock Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Erin Says:Oh yes... clothing was still wet in the morning when we awoke. The inside of our tent was pretty damp too, although it did not rain during the night. My day did not start out well. I was all packed up and ready to go, but then I decided to put Gatorade in my water bladder in my backpack. I put in the Gatorade and repacked everything and was about to leave when Craig (bless him) kindly requested the use of additional toilet paper and the hand sanitizer. He really needed it after a long foray in the woods to conduct some "business". Sure, hand sanitizer/TP, no problem... they were in the very bottom of my ready-to-go pack. So I unpacked everything (imagine many layers: black fleece, food bag w/stove, clothing bag, meds bag, spare ziplocks bag... then sanitizer. So I got it out for him and repacked my bag once again. As I hoisted it onto my back I realized that the back padding lumbar part seemed really wet for some reason. Well, apparently all that packing and repacking had caused my water bladder to leak. I scrambled to get it out of my pack (unpacking everything AGAIN) and it had leaked everywhere. Now, if it had just been water that would be fine, but this was sticky, sugary Gatorade everywhere! I was furious. And cranky. I had to sop up as much liquid as I could with my PackTowel. Craig took off and left me there. He took off because he realized as he was packing his stuff that our maps were missing!!! He'd had them out that morning on the picnic table and now they were gone. So we figured it could only be the 6 people we'd stayed with and seen that morning who might have them. So he trekked off to catch up to them and left me to clean my mess.I mopped up the best that I could and left out from the shelter at 12:10 pm. A very late start. But the weather was great today - sunny and breezy! I am developing a blister on my right heel, on the side. It hurts from the pressure of walking, but at least it is not direct pressure. I wondered when I would see Craig again as I stuggled up a huge steep climb (Albert Mountain). The climb to the top was very reminicent (sp?) of climbs in the Whites... huge rock faces and ladders and step ups where I was convinced I would fall backwards and smack my skull on the rock. On the way up Albert Mountain one passes a really wet section where there is water running off the moss on the sides of the mountain - apparently this section of the trail is one of the wettest in the U.S. - it receives something like 96 inches of rain each year! As I was struggling up the mountain- hoping my knees would hold up - I kept hoping this was actually Albert because Fish had told us it was a hard climb, but I had no actual idea where I was or how many miles I'd hiked. Well, it was Albert Mountain and the summit was incredible - a huge fire tower offering 360 degree views. And Craig was there! He was chillin in the sun on his Thermarest with Patty and the Fat Man! It was so great to see them all. We climbed up the fire tower and took photos. We ate lunch and rested. Craig had passed most of the hikers who had shared the shelter with us, but no sign of our maps. As we were resting, Craig asked Patty if he could use her thru-hiker companion book to check out mileage. As she pulled it out in the zip-lock bag, Craig commented that they were using binder clips on their book just like we are... well, uh, turns out it was OURS! Patty had accidentally packed our maps/book in her pack - her stuff is packaged in the same type of ziplock as ours. Crisis solved! We were relieved to have our maps back and be able to joke about it with Patty and the Fat Man. He even gave me some moleskin for my blister. We took off again, headed towards our next town stop - Franklin, N.C. Tonight we are tenting at Rock Gap Shelter, but our tent spot is really close to the road! The guy from Northern Maine is staying at this shelter tonight too... I actually had great conversations with him. He's really nice, still gruff, but definitely nice. Patty and the Fat Man are here too. We made a great fire again tonight and hung out chatting. We are excited to stop in town - even though it is Easter... hope we can get a ride to town (11 miles off trail).On a side note, I find it so interesting how my perception of mileage is slowly changing. Today I did 6 miles without even realizing it! Or Craig will say, 5 more miles to the shelter and I don't even blink. My feet are starting to hurt after hiking 9 miles now, instead of 6 before. Pretty exciting!