Date: 2007-04-13
From: Wayah Gap

To: Tellico Gap
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

7:30 am. I am being lazy, not wanting to leave the warm sleeping bag to face the cold and especially the wind. We are all tired of the wind. Eat, Sleep and Hike. I imagine these journal entries get pretty boring. I have been a little lonely a couple of times, tired certainly, cold, hot, sore and uncomfortable, but never bored. Right now I am listening to the wind and birds and a woodpecker. There is always something to do or look at or think about. Often there are people to talk to. There is always something to talk to other hikers about, simply because we are sharing this experience. There are times out here when I feel like I am pure experience. Many of the service people in town have shared their knowledge of the trail; I have gotten lots of good advice. I forgot to mention I had a nice conversation with Ghost (Bill Rabbit) yesterday morning. We had passed each other a couple time and had a brief, "Where do you live?" conversation that we both remembered but had no idea werhe we were when we had it. He is going fairly slowly at this point, so I mentioned the flip-flopping idea to him. Well, there is more to say but I guess I'd better quit stalling and start my day!Started from Wayah Gap about 9:30. Some trail angels from the Macon Baptist Church were at the Gap so I stopped and drank a bottle of water and ate a couple of Slim Jims. One guy was a paramedic so we talked about that. They had us sign their rosster so they could pray for us. I told them I had cancer and asked them to proy for me for that, too.Heading up the trail I met Rachel, who has been going by the name Mambo_Tango on whiteblaze.com and trailjournals.com. A couple of people have asked me if I am her. I also met her sister, Mad Cow, and David Zimmerman (Z-Man). I leapfrogged all day with Robo and Gray Turtle. When I got to Wine Spring, Murdock showed up. I saw him and the rest of his crew off and on throughout the day.The weather was all over the place--sunny, windy, cloudy, rainy--off and on. The wind died down around noon. It started to rain a little rght about the samve tive as i approached Wayah Bald. I covered the pack and put on my jacket. At the bald there was a toilet. It didn't smell bad so I took a trail break in there out of the wind. On top of the pald I could see the tower on Alvbert Mountain. I was overcast to the north so I did not go up in the tower.After Wayah Bald there were about five easy miles, part of it was through an area that had had a fairly recent fire. Two Wheels passed me--he seems like a really nice guy. I got to Cold Spring Shelter about 5 pm; the shelter was full, which I expected. I was planning to tent, but the sites were uphill from the shelter and possible already full, so I got some water from the spring right next to the shelter and continued on, planning to go down into or close to Tellico Gap to find a flat spot.Shortly out of the shelter I ran into Mike (Ali Baba). His daughter Amy was picking him up at Tellico Gap and they were going to NOC. He offered me a ride and a place on the floor of their cabin. A while later Bullwinkle caught up with me. He had been getting water at the shelter and was also moving to find a place to camp. I told him about Ali Baba and Amy and he came into town with us also. We stopped for dinner (hamburger, no bun, french fires) and split the rent on a cabin ($22 each). So I have a shower and a bed to sleep in.