Date: 2002-11-29
To: Orange Turnpike
Miles today: 10.2

I'm home for Thanksgiving Break and I knew it was time for a hike. My buddy Rick accompanied me on the hike. Rick hiked the Trail in 99 with his wife. He was Clean of Cook n'Clean. We had two cars and figured we would put one on the north end and one at the southern end. There was no snow near my house, but when I got up near the Trail there was a dusting, and the Trail had about 2 inches. The Trail was pretty flat and a nice ease in. I didn't bring my boots home for break, so I was using my dads light new balance runners. Bad shoes for this hike. Snow started coming down, really pretty. We reach the Eastern Pinacle with jagged rock ledges running along the ridge. Tough to manuver with running shoes on. All the rocks were glazed, and Rick was just racing by. I had to rely heavily on my poles. Could have take a spill without them. We reached the turnoff for Wildcat Shelter and decided to check it out. It was such a pretty setting in the snow, tucked away. Most thru-hikers seem to not really enjoy their stay there and this section of the Trail in general. Water can be a problem in summer, and many hikers walk from Vernon to Wildcat, a long and taxing section, worse in bad heat. I however was loving this area. The shelter looked brand new and in great shape. There was registers dating back a few yrs, something you don't see often. I saw entries from Moose, Smokey, Fletch and others I met in 2001, as well as Tsuna and Peanut from last yr.    Being purists we decided to go back to the Trail on the same blue blaze, rather than using the north blue blaze that cut off a few feet of the AT.    Came to Fitzgerald falls which was so pretty with ice and snow. Steep little ascent to the top. This started the section of great views. We eventually made our way up to Mombasha High Point. I loved this area. We could see for miles. Supposedly you can see NYC, but I couldn't. We thought we could make out the High Point tower thats in NJ back 50 miles. The day wasn't sunny, but just nice. Hard to explain, just a typical fall day. The day kinda had that getting dark feel all afternoon. The views were great with all the bare trees. Can't wait to see this all in June.   We came to a road which we thought was where our car was. We were at the wrong road though. Rick seemed to think there was a lake somewhere, before Orange Turnpike. Sure enough he was right. We walked over a cool bridge, and skirted a lake for awhile. More ups and downs before we finished. It seemed at if the Trail has been reloed in a few areas during the hike. There was one particular area where the Trail just followed a steep rock pile for a hundred feet or so. Rick couldn't remember that one from 99. We reached my car at 430, just as darkness was setting in.   We talked thru-hiking all day. Rick was reassuring me that me anxiousness and nervousness is normal, something he had too. He thinks I'm more than ready. I can;t wait until the semester is over, and I can start focusing on this thru-hike. This hike made me so excited! I know I'm ready. Making my reservation at the amicalola lodge for my parents and I, for the night before. March 1st is the official start date....Holy Crap~!