Date: 2014-05-07
From: Betty Creek

To: Rock Gap
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up around 6:15 to the rustle of equipment being packed behind me. Cinnamon Girl and Nature Bob had warned me they¢d be up early since they were planning to hike into Franklin today along with T-Bird, Travis and maybe Superman. That was not my plan; Franklin would wait until tomorrow when I can link up with my friend, Dah Wah He. Today would be a shorter day than yesterday but with a tough, yet mercifully short, climb up Mt. Albert.I was tired this morning; and being tucked into a thicket of short, dense Rhododendron, it was cold and damp. I know better than to tent in such an area when it¢s not boiling hot out, but Betty Creek did not offer many open spots, and it felt like stealth camping to be camouflaged by nature in such a spot. Between general sleepiness and the uninviting damp air, I was slow getting up; had my bladder not insisted, I might have rolled back over for more sleep. I packed slowly too, when I was finally ready, I headed over to see Ironhead. I had been wanting coffee so as he packed, I unpacked and started to heat up the water; coffee was a good idea . The day began. It was all uphill, though fortunately pretty gradual. We started at ~4,200¢ and climbed maybe 500¢, in the course of the first two miles. At Mooney Gap I took a break and suggested Ironhead take off ahead of me. It seemed today was going to be one of those low energy days which I fall into once or twice during a hike. There was a forest service road at Mooney Gap, a quick look at the map showed that you could take the road to get to Bearpen Gap, a small dip in the terrain about a 14 mile before the start of a ~600¢ climb, straight up for a 14 mile. It was tempting to take that road, but I remained ¢on the path¢. The trail is narrow here, and winds its way around the side of the mountain, providing some reasonable eastern-facing views. Somewhere along the line, I caught a glimpse of the fire-tower, perhaps at Bearpen Gap, it was not that far distance wise, but looked so small and so far away. It reminded me of an image of the bearded guru on a mountain top, and the intrepid seekers making a climb to ask the meaning of life question . On the Path to Mt. Albert SummitMt. Albert¢s summit approach was rocky, with a few tricky spots for someone my height. A few of the boulders appeared to have footholds carved into them. Fortunately, while it was challenging, it was not as bad as other places I've been in past years- the area around Dragon¢s Tooth comes to mind, or climbing ladders up Mt. Mansfield (not on the AT). My energy was still low though, and I stopped a few times as I ascended. The view started to open up about 200 yds from the base of the tower. Again I was awed by nature, by rugged mountains made smooth with an emerald blanket of trees. The mountains and hills transformed into a still-life, capturing a green ocean with waves gathering behind waves set to crash at the foot of a rocky precipice. How can¢t someone feel awed? There are many sections of the AT were the terrain demands your attention be focused feet (and sometimes inches), in front of your feet; so when you have the opportunity to stop- and gaze for miles, it really shakes you out of that near-comma state.I arrived at the tower and Ironhead called a greeting from above. This was a great place for a break and a place I could make a brief call home to say hello after a couple of days without contact. I must have snapped 50 photos of the surrounding mountains, but none of them could do justice to what my eyes took in. The tower was closed at the top, but even climbing to the third level platform provided a view down on the surrounding mountains. What a great place this must be to sleep, I imagine feeling so close to the stars you might move them around with a swipe of your hand. Yes, this too, would be a great place to which to return. On the Path to Mt. Albert Summit45 minutes later, after great views, lots of photos, some rest and more food, I headed north, now downhill, with Ironhead. The initial descent was steep but quickly mellowed into a smooth slope, making the walk easy. A good 3.5 miles and engaging conversation later, we arrived at the turn-off for Long Branch Shelter (I believe is a replacement shelter for an older one that had been about a mile or so back). I dropped my pack at the cross-path and went to investigate the facilities. Long Branch is a beautiful two-story shelter. There are nice, not-yet-destroyed-by-burn-marks, picnic tables and a clean privy. This would be a nice place to stop for the day. The water source was back at the cross-path, it was running high with the recent rain. We stopped there, took off boots and made this our lunch spot. The cold water stung at first dip but as my feet numbed a little, it felt so good! The water ran over tree roots and down small rocks, a little area just upstream from me was covered in an iridescent moss which glimmered as the water cascaded over it; it looked like a Fairyland location. After this second relaxing break of the day, we headed back to the trail to make a long but gentle climb, the last of the day and then take an equally slow descent to an unremarkable place signed as ¢Glassmine Gap¢. Unremarkable in beauty, yet made memorable all the same by the company we met there. Over the last three days I've run across a couple of gentlemen hikers- ¢slackpacking¢ as they happily admitted. Two-tone and Deacon have been leapfrogging their cars to make good miles during the day. The first day I saw them, I said hello and continued on. The second day, I said hello and tried to recall if they looked familiar, today I stopped and introduced myself, figuring we might yet run into one another again. ? They posed for photos with Little Dude, and after a short conversation, we went our separate ways. It should not have been a long walk from Glassmine Gap to the Rock Gap shelter, the final night¢s resting place, but it did take a very long time by my watch. All the same, the time was spent discussing the raising of children (of which I am more a spectator), the importance of failure, religion, TV and the how to better prepare people for life. These conversations always fascinate me, because they get to the core of many issues with which people struggle. Ironhead is a great conversationalist and leads what sounds to be an interesting, active and full life. It struck me, as it does anytime I find a kindred hiking friend, that I will miss his company and the conversations when I leave the trail tomorrow. Thanks Ironhead, for making this hike a fun one.When we finally arrived at the shelter, I was a bit disappointed. It was small, dark and surrounded by aggressive hornets; it appeared to have a major rodent problem as well. That said, there were some redeeming values, for example, a beautiful glass-encased bulletin board where a local school had tacked artwork and reports about the area and then there was a very nicely constructed retaining wall in front of the shelter. But even with these niceties, the hornets and mice were too much to deal with and so, as I headed to investigate the privy, Ironhead checked out what appeared to be tenting spots near the bottom of the slope behind the shelter. It turns out there were three or four reasonably-sized tenting areas downhill so we grabbed packs and set out to find one that would work. There was a road maybe 300 yds from the location we settled on. The area was a nice one with a piped stream to one side. Despite a reasonable stream flow, the PVC pipe only provide a dribble of water so after setting up the tent, Ironhead and I went over to re-engineer things and get a nice steady stream going again. It was near perfect down there. It was also quite busy, with a road just below us and we saw a number of cars pass by. It occurred to me we should walk down to the road and offer someone money to pick-up a 6-pack for dinner beverages and to celebrate my near-trip completion. I never did go down to see if we could work something out, though. I went back up to the shelter to use the facility and met Wallet (from NY) on the way. He was planning to stay the night too, so I pointed him in the direction of our tent site and away he went. In the meantime, I was thinking about how I was going to greatly dislike climbing back up the hill from our tent site in the morning, but not wanting to skip a section of the trail, I decided that I would walk down to the road and loop back up the trail to until I got back to the shelter. I returned to the tent site, told Ironhead of my plan, and while I think he thought I was crazy (and OCD), he offered to go along all the same. There was not a clear path to the road, but it wasn't so overgrown that it was untenable. The road-walk was not long; we could better see the parking area and a garbage can as well as a fuel canister that someone had left behind. It had only a little fuel left, maybe one meal¢s worth, but we left it for the next hiker in need. Little did I know at the time, I was the hiker who could have used it :o. Back up the hill, heading south along the trail, it was a steep climb back to the turn-off for the shelter. When we got back to the tent area, we gathered wood, made a fire and started dinner. About 3 minutes into my cooking, my canister went dry! Damn, another instance where the trail provided and this time I had disregarded the gift!!! Luckily, I was there with Wallet and Ironhead so I had no fuel shortage between us. With a full belly and a long conversation until dusk, I called it a night. I would have really liked a Yuengling but that could wait another day. Even with today being a low-energy day for me, it was a still a great last night on the trail. Tomorrow would be a short 3.5 mile or so walk to Winding Stair Gap which would bring a close not only to this year¢s hike, but complete the last southern section of the AT on my 20-year-plan AT hike. I was both happy and a little sad. As I mentioned at the beginning of my journal, it has been over a decade since I¢d been to Springer Mountain. Back then, I had walked the short mile loop from the parking area to the terminus while during a weekend I was in GA on a business trip. That part of my life seems so far away now and while change is inevitable, this hike had made me nostalgic for parts of my life that have long since passed. That is not to say that I am unhappy, quite the contrary; it is only to say that like finding a favorite photo tucked between the pages of an old book, it brings both a smile and a bit of longing to return and visit with memories.It is a clear night tonight, I can see the moon and hear the occasional rumble of a car below us. I¢m looking forward to a nice walk tomorrow, and a good dinner with DWH in Asheville. Day¢s PhotosGoodnight from Rock Gap and my last night on the trail in the Southern Appalachians.More photos for day 10 of the trip can be seen at: 2000Miler_Day10